Out of Focus: Woody Allen’s ‘Manhattan’ pushes past boundaries of comedy genre

The pulsating sounds of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” sound out over the New York City skyline. In a flurry of images, we see the iconography traditionally associated with the city – its brimstone buildings, its towering skyscrapers, its citizens marching on through the bustling, damp and snow-covered streets – as a neurotic, disembodied voice begins to speak, apparently trying to figure out the right words to start his new novel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyaj2P-dSi8

So begins Woody Allen’s 1979 masterpiece, “Manhattan.” The film plays this Friday at The Cinefamily on Fairfax Avenue.

Prolific director Allen stars as Isaac Davis, a television comedy writer who dates the 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter) but begins to fall in love with his best friend’s mistress, Mary (Diane Keaton). In the midst of all of this, he also must deal with his ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep), a lesbian who is writing a tell-all book about her relationship with him.

However, the story takes a backseat to the city itself, as the title suggests. The brilliant opening montage sets the tone for the rest of the film – a beautifully photographed love letter to the city of New York, the borough of Manhattan being the main character of the film. Allen’s most visually engrossing picture, it captures the city on the move in luscious black and white cinematography. Nearly every image looks iconic, as though each shot could be made into a still frame and put in an art museum.

With few exceptions spaced sporadically here and there throughout the history of cinema, comedy films have always been viewed as simple entertainment with no substance. While this is certainly a truism for most films from the genre, there are definite exceptions, and “Manhattan” is one of them.

Allen, in my opinion, is responsible for elevating the comedy film into high art. In films like “Annie Hall,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and, yes, certainly “Manhattan,” he has made devastatingly poignant movies that blend comedy with tragedy, or, perhaps more appropriately, humor with sadness.

The only other filmmaker working within the framework of American comedy to have ever made movies that so adequately reflected the highs and lows of the human spirit, who laid bare the very meanings of human existence, was Charlie Chaplin.

However, the one distinction between the two artists is that Allen, with the exception of early films like “Bananas,” did not make a career out of anarchic slapstick silliness. Instead, he focuses more on subtlety and dry wit, showing the generational shift in what people find to be funny. For my money, I’m partial to Allen’s brand of humor over Chaplin’s.

“Manhattan” is a testament to the fact that the comedy film can be exceptional and can compete with every other genre out there. It is not only one of the greatest comedies of all time, it is also one of the great movies of the 20th century – a stunning portrait of one of the world’s great cities.

What classics films would you like to see receive their time in the limelight? Email Colvin at [email protected].