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» Rants: Manhattan (Blu-ray)

Nathan Schwartz

|    Tuesday, February 7, 2012

I am not so fond of Manhattan, the city that is. Being brought up in the suburbs of Toronto, the hustle, bustle, and not to mention the cornucopia of rancid odors that permeate my nostrils with their distinctive, yet equally unsatisfying, aromas of the Manhattan ecosystem, never appealed to me.

But as much as I don’t personally care for the city, Manhattan, the movie, was able to show me the strong relationship Woody Allen had with it (at least in 1979). From a visual perspective, Allen turned the concrete jungle into a picturesque, and almost surreal, spectacle, even though the film was in black and white. And sure, it’s a hot bed for criminal activity, excessive materialism and what have you, but he, through the power of astute narrative and visuals, showed his love, and deep sense of romanticism (however idealistic) for the city, and the women within it.

Thus, this film, with its excellent writing, music, acting, direction, and Allen’s pessimistic, paranoid, and witty persona, was a joy to watch. And even though I don’t care for the city, Manhattan is a movie that I will cherish for years to come.