Cast
- Woody Allen - Isaac Davis
- Diane Keaton - Mary Wilkie
- Michael Murphy - Yale Pollack
- Mariel Hemingway - Tracy
- Meryl Streep - Jill Davis
- Anne Byrne - Emily Pollack
- Michael O'Donoghue - Dennis
- Wallace Shawn - Jeremiah
- Karen Ludwig - Connie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_%28film%29
Trailer
Summary http://twentyfourframes.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/manhattan-59th-st-bridge.jpg
One of the most interesting aspects to this movie is the opening scene itself. It opens with Gershwin’s song, “Rhapsody In Blue,” (Listen below!!!)* playing in the background. Simultaneously, black and white photographs of New York play through, as Isaac Davis, the protagonist played by Woody Allen, continues to write and rewrite his story in relationship to the city, as he keeps starting over with his new ideas (Watch this clip below!!)*. We first meet Isaac at a bar. Accompanying him is the married couple Yale and Emily, along with his seventeen year old girlfriend, Tracy, twenty five years younger than him. Following this meal, it becomes obvious that there is a different moral code in Manhattan than we are used to, after Yale tells him that he is having an affair with another woman. Yale’s mistress is Mary. However, they eventually break up and Mary and Isaac fall in love. Again, because of the atmosphere, this is not seen as a weird event, despite Allen and Yale being such good friends. Another very interesting part is Diane Keaton is in both Manhattan and Annie Hall, and in both, she has a relationship with Woody Allen. However, this happens over the whole span of Annie Hall, rather than only a small portion of Manhattan.
The basis of the movie deals with Isaac trying to break up with Tracy, but struggles as Tracy loves and cherishes him. He talks above her, ignores her, and even shoves her, trying to hint to her the idea of breaking up. As mentioned above, I find it very interesting that no one finds it weird that Isaac and Tracy are together. In addition, infidelity is a common theme, aside from Yale, with many affairs, breakups, and divorces occurring throughout the film. Tracy is extremely upset when he finally ends things with her. Later in the film, we run into Isaac’s ex wife, Jill, who left him for another woman and has since been expressing her hatred for him, most recently through a book she has just published. This leads to my favorite scene, where Yale, Emily, Mary, and Isaac pass a local bookstore and see Jill’s book in the window. They begin to read a particularly humorous scene about Isaac and Jill’s sex life, leading to Isaac left alone in the screen, humiliated. Near the close of the movie, Mary leaves Isaac for Yale.
In the final scene of the movie, Isaac chases Tracy down the street, who is going to study acting in London. When he was previously trying to dump her, he had promoted this idea. Now he is strongly resenting it. There is a sort of humorous ending to this movie, as forty two year old Isaac, stands alone in a lobby, as a seventeen girl leaves him, realizing that SHE is too mature for HIM.
The basis of the movie deals with Isaac trying to break up with Tracy, but struggles as Tracy loves and cherishes him. He talks above her, ignores her, and even shoves her, trying to hint to her the idea of breaking up. As mentioned above, I find it very interesting that no one finds it weird that Isaac and Tracy are together. In addition, infidelity is a common theme, aside from Yale, with many affairs, breakups, and divorces occurring throughout the film. Tracy is extremely upset when he finally ends things with her. Later in the film, we run into Isaac’s ex wife, Jill, who left him for another woman and has since been expressing her hatred for him, most recently through a book she has just published. This leads to my favorite scene, where Yale, Emily, Mary, and Isaac pass a local bookstore and see Jill’s book in the window. They begin to read a particularly humorous scene about Isaac and Jill’s sex life, leading to Isaac left alone in the screen, humiliated. Near the close of the movie, Mary leaves Isaac for Yale.
In the final scene of the movie, Isaac chases Tracy down the street, who is going to study acting in London. When he was previously trying to dump her, he had promoted this idea. Now he is strongly resenting it. There is a sort of humorous ending to this movie, as forty two year old Isaac, stands alone in a lobby, as a seventeen girl leaves him, realizing that SHE is too mature for HIM.