Woody Allen's Manhattan

Todd and I watched Woody Allen's film, Manhattan, on Saturday night. Most people I know either hate Woody Allen or love him. I belong to the latter category. It's true that, if you consider his personal rather than professional life, he's not exactly a role model, but I believe that the art stands on its own merit. At one time in my life, Hemingway was my favourite novelist, and he was known as a rather unpleasant person.

Manhattan stars Diane Keaton and Mariel Hemingway (there's that Hemingway connection again) as Allen's character's love interests. I don't understand why Allen's films aren't more popular with men. In them, the whiny, neurotic, scrawny middle-aged man always gets involved with the most beautiful women. Interestingly, the film deals with the complexities of the relationship between 42-year-old Isaac (Allen) and 17-year-old Tracy (Hemingway), foreshadowing Allen's own relationship with Soon-Yi Previn some years later.

Apart from Allen's insightful and hilarious view into relationships, I loved this movie because it was just plain gorgeous. Shot in black-and-white and set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, it showed the beauty of a vibrant city full of diversity. Of course, it didn't match much my own recollections of Manhattan, which I saw as a child while visiting my aunt. This tells me it's high time for another trip to New York City so that I can discover Woody Allen's Manhattan.