Manhattan [Widescreen]

Manhattan is both a very funny and perceptive comedy of manners about educated sophisticated New Yorkers as well as one of the most loving homages to the “Big Apple” ever filmed. Woody Allen plays Isaac Davis, a comedy writer whose wife (Meryl Streep) has left him for another woman. Isaac is intending to write a book about his romantic entanglements but his work is constantly interrupted by the demands of two ex-wives, his guilt over his relationship with a precocious 17 year old schoolgirl (Mariel Hemingway) and his affair with his best-friend’s mistress (Diane Keaton). Managing to be biting and romantic, elegant and satirically funny, “Manhattan” defined the social mores of the educated urban bourgeoisie at the tail end of the “Me Generation”. Filmed in luscious black and white by Gordon Willis and featuring some of George Gershwin’s finest music, “Manhattan” is a celebration of the vitality and sheer magic of the city of New York. Though this bittersweet fable may poke fun at the pretentiousness and self-righteousness of New Yorkers, Allen’s teasing of people’s foibles never reverts to mere caricature. This version features the film’s original theatrical trailer.