Jazz soundtrack, breathtaking views of the city, subtle dialogs and lively characters: Woody Allen’s iconic film “Manhattan” is released again. For a global re-release a new 4K digital copy, scanned from the original negative, was created. Screenings dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the film will be shown in English with Russian subtitles. You can watch the lyric and witty tribute to New York at the Pioner and the Falcon Club Cinema Boutique cinemas.
Isaac Davis, a successful television screenwriter, at 42, has been twice divorced. His ex-wife left him for another woman and now is writing a book about their relationship and their difficult divorce. Isaac is also going to write his memoirs and for the sake of this he quits his hateful job, which he immediately regrets. His personal life, too, is not so smooth: Isaac dates an easy-to-notice 17-year-old schoolgirl Tracy, but he cannot reciprocate her sincere feelings. One day he meets Mary, his best friend Yale’s lover, who he’s at first annoyed with, but she is gradually attracting him. The tangled love quadrangle will destroy many expectations, however, ultimately restores Isaac’s faith in people.
“Manhattan” is Woody Allen’s love letter to his hometown, accompanied by the timeless music of George Gershwin and filmed by an outstanding cameraman Gordon Willis. In this motion picture the director showed intricate romantic relationships, cheating and midlife crisis for the residents of New York. At the same time, he paid as much attention to the exciting views of the metropolis as to the film’s characters. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, “Manhattan” was restored from the original negative in a digital 4K format.
“I talked to the cameraman Gordon Willis that I wanted to make a large screen film, not about war or something big, but kind of a heartfelt romantic picture for a wide screen. We wanted this movie to be in black and white, because that felt like Manhattan. I bought the recordings of Gershwin’s overtures performed by Michael Tilson Thomas, listened to them every day in the shower and thought like ‘God, how great it would be to put this music into the movie’s background’!’” said Woody Allen about the work on the film.
The emotional and mocking “Manhattan” is on the borderline between drama and romantic comedy. It continues the glorious traditions of two previous works by Woody Allen, including “Interiors” (1978) and “Annie Hall” (1977) into the non-official New York Trilogy. The film received 13 film awards, including the BAFTA, César, Golden Globe Award. It was also listed in the US National Film Registry.
You can watch the film within the “Listapad. The Collections” project from September 12 till September 18 at the Pioner and till September 25 at the Falcon Club Cinema Boutique.