November 21st, 2012 James Baldassano

In our seminar class on Wednesday, we watched “Manhattan” by Woody Allen. It was a black and white movie made in 1979. “Manhattan” was an interesting movie, for it was made in a time where color had already been incorporated into films, yet Woody decided that this film should be in black and white. It was an interesting blend of satirical comedy, intimate relationships, and a fat paced lifestyle which is customary for someone who lives in New York City.

The camera function in this movie was primarily on the characters who were speaking, but not a close up. It was a general view which included the scenery as well as the characters.

When filming, the camera followed the other people like another person. It was like a silent, ever-present character who was involved with the conversation that was occurring in the scene.

The black and white color was interesting, for as I stated, the movie was made in 1979, long after colored movies were introduced into mainstream cinema. It creates a more romantic feel, like a sort of “Casablanca”, and really makes me feel like its a love story. It is often contradicted, however, with Woody’s many sarcastic comments.

The clips in this movie have a varied length, some as short as 30 seconds, other up to 3 minutes.

Woody Allen’s character was involved in pretty much every scene, and he was mostly witty, and very sarcastic. His speech was interpreted by characters as condescending, but I felt he was just overly sarcastic.

The wardrobes in this film were very stereotypical for middle class New Yorkers, but hey really accentuated the lifestyle we lead in this city.

The music was another varying part of the film, for in the beginning it was very loud and crazy, while also dramatic. This to me represented the narrator’s inability to describe New York without getting angry and insulting it. Most of the movie has no background music, but certain parts do, and those parts have very sentimental music. I recognized one of the songs “Someone to Watch Over Me”.

Manhattan is the perfect place for this movie, for it was a big mashup of relationships, all moving very fast paced, with bumps and turns. The city that never sleeps seemed fitting for it.