Manhattan, 1979

Plot Summary:
The film Manhattan is directed by, written by and stars Woody Allen. In the film Allen plays Isaac Davis, a small, pessimistic, self-absorbed man, who falls prey to a succession of failed relationships. His first wife, a kindergarten teacher, gets into drugs and therefore Ike ends his relationship with her. His second wife, played by Meryl Streep, has an affair with another woman and leaves Ike for her. She later writes a book about their failed marriage and rocky divorce.
This succession of destructive relationships finally changes when Mary Wilke, played by Diane Keaton, provides Ike with the tough lesson that finally teaches him what he really wants: happiness instead of trouble. Ike meets Mary through his best friend, Yale, who is having an affair with her. Yale’s conscious gets the best of him, so he eventually leaves Mary and stays with his wife. At this point Mary and Ike start dating and soon fall in love. In the beginning of their relationship the neurotic, anxiety ridden Mary warns Ike not to get involved with her because “[she’s] trouble”. Eventually Mary starts seeing Yale again and discovers that she is still in love with him. Yale leaves his wife, Mary leaves Ike and the two of them get back together. After this traumatic split Ike realizes that he doesn’t want anymore trouble. He’d rather be with someone that selflessly loves and respects him, this person being his teenage ex-girlfriend Tracy.
Tracy is another main female character in the film, but unlike the other major characters she is kind, genuine, loving, compassionate, and selfless. Tracy’s role in the movie is to redeem alienated Ike, and provide a romantic ideal. Although only seventeen, Tracy is the only truly mature, considerate, and stable character. She knows what she wants, Ike, and is willing to make sacrifices in order for their relationship to work. In the end of the film, Ike runs back to Tracy, who is just about to leave for acting school in London. Ike begs Tracy to stay, but she stays assertive and level-headed by following her original plan, but agreeing to try and make a long-distance relationship work with Ike.

What Was Going on Historically in 1979:
Manhattan was released in 1979, the same year that the NOW National Board declares a State of Emergency on the Equal Rights Amendment. The board pledges full resources to winning the deadline extension and to ongoing ratification campaigns, since the bill was not passed. The amendment states that men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. This amendment is brought up in the film in a speech given at a charity black-tie event that both Mary and Ike are attending. The woman giving the speech jokes that thanks to the ERA they can all be at the event. It appears that she thinks the passing of the ERA would not make any significant changes in society because women’s rights have already been established on their own; an amendment does not need to be passed in order to make sure that these rights are guaranteed.

Mise En Scene Analysis:
The film centers on relationships and the powerfulness, grandeur, and mysticism of New York. The human characters are dwarfed by the city’s grandeur, both visually and metaphorically. The city is portrayed as powerful and assertive, in contrast to all of the major characters, except for teen aged Tracy, who are confused, indecisive, and predominately self-absorbed. The beginning of the film is made up of a succession of long shots, in which people appear minuscule against the looming skyscrapers of the city. The long shots help to establish the setting, Manhattan, and provide a reoccurring element of the main characters almost being overcome by the grandeur of the city. Allen also decided not to use color, but rather make it a white and black motion picture to help add to the romantic feel.
Throughout the film, Allen consciously uses elements of mise en scene to add to the romantic, yet simultaneously realistic feel of the movie. Although his portrayal of the city of Manhattan is romanticized, his portrayal of human relationships is not. Allen uses minimal cutting to add to the film’s realism. Many of the scenes go on for long periods of time and literally follow the characters without jumping to different angles or close-ups. By using a minimal amount of cutting it makes the film seem more realistic, as if you were actually there watching the events happen.
Another element of mise en scene that Allen masterfully utilizes is music. He uses music to heighten emotions in the scenes and provide a rhythm to the film. Near the end of the movie, Mary breaks up with Ike because she wants to get back with Yale. Ike is confused and overwhelmed with Mary’s decision because it comes so unexpectedly. To convey these feelings, Allen uses fast pace music, making the audience experience the frenzy and confusion Ike is experiencing at that particular moment.
In the final scene of the movie music is also used to help convey Ike’s emotions. Ike is sitting on his sofa, thinking about what a “terrific kid” Tracy is. A cut to a close-up of Tracy’s face is shown, and then it jumps back to Ike on the sofa as slow music begins to play. Ike gets up from the sofa as the music builds up and gets out the harmonica Tracy gave him as a present, he moves back to the sofa and takes a seat as the music slows down again. The music shows the emotions building up in Ike as he thinks about his lost love, Tracy. Suddenly, Ike gets up from the couch and runs out the door, as fast paced, marching/band music starts playing. The upbeat music continues all the way to Tracy’s apartment. Once he gets there, slow, romantic music begins to play as Ike sees beautiful Tracy down the hall. The peaceful music slowly starts to fade as the reunited lovers begin their dialogue. Once again, Allen uses music to create the shifting mood of the film and emotional roller coaster Ike is riding on.

Ways the Film Comments on Gender, Sexuality, and Relationships:
Like his male characters, the female characters in Manhattan are emotionally flawed but not in stereotypical ways. Most people associate females with passiveness, fragility, and co dependence, but Allen’s female characters are flawed in ways that are almost identical to the flaws of the male characters. They are self-absorbed, neurotic, anxious, and indecisive. Allen develops his female characters more fully than most other directors and features no hysterical women or bimbos in a majority of his films.
Although Allen is paired as the lead with a much younger woman, Tracy, this is neither unique to Allen nor necessarily a fault. Many real life relationships are between older men and much younger women. Furthermore, American cinema is filled with pairings of older men and younger women, from Casablanca to Pretty Woman. The relationship Allen portrays between Tracy and Ike, is neither perverse nor exploitative. Allen presents Tracy in affectionate terms that respect her character, intelligence, and independence, and show her deriving satisfaction from the relationship. After all, she is the only level-headed and genuine person in the film. When Ike breaks up with her, she does not begin to hysterically cry, but responds as anyone would who has just been dumped by the person they love.
In Manhattan, Allen realistically portrays romantic relationships. He does not over-glamorize or romanticize them. His characters get in fights, talk about sex, have affairs, and are often indecisive about what they really want, just like many people are in real life. Allen teaches us that once you have something good, hold onto it, don't be afraid to be happy. Ike learns this lesson the hard way, after his break-up with Mary. Tracy was a perfect lover and companion, and above all else never made Ike feel inadequate. Ike finally realizes this at the end of the film and runs back to Tracy's accepting arms.

Memorable Quotes:
"You always think you are going to be the one who makes them act different." -Ike
This quote is said by Ike to Mary when he is talking about his past relationships. Ike always gets involved with "troubled" females and blames this character flaw on his desire to help them become better people. Ike learns the hard way that after a certain point people don't charge; they are who they are. This quote represents a misapprehension many people have when entering relationships. Oftentimes a person thinks that they can change the other person for the better, but rarely does this actually happen. A person will only change if they see their own shortcomings and are open to changing them.
""Six months isn't too long...have a little faith in me." -Tracy
This quote is said by Tracy at the end of the movie, just as she is about to leave for her flight to London. It shows the problem Ike has had all along, a lack of faith in the only person that really deserves to have faith put in them. Throughout the film Tracy has been the only decisive, assertive, and straightforward character, always letting Ike know how much she cares about him and how she wants them to have a serious relationship, not just a casual fling. Ike, on the other hand, is apprehensive about getting too serious with Tracy because of how young she is. Tracy wants to be with Ike, so she is willing to try a long distance relationship. The only problem is that Ike will finally have to "have faith" in Tracy.

Annie Hall, 1977

Plot Summary:
The plot of Annie Hall is the basic- boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy tries to get girl back; boy is better off without her. The main characters of Annie Hall are Annie Hall and Alvy Singer. The film follows the course of their relationship, how they meet, dates the go on, fights they get into, problems in the bedroom and so fourth. Both are neurotic, self-conscious people who are constantly trying to deal with their own personal problems on top of their relationship. The main goal of the film is to portray how a relationship is thought about from a woman’s point of view (Bjorkman. 78). Like a number of Woody Allen films, the overall tone is very cynical.


What Was Going on Historically in 1977:
Culturally, at that time, it was the height of the hippie movement. People were rebelling against gender roles and sexuality stereotypes. This was done in life as well as art. When Woody Allen wrote Annie Hall, he challenged these gender roles by creating the Annie Hall character. During the hippie era, women fought against stereotypical gender roles. Historically, women had been known to take a back seat to decision making and professional works and the hippie era gave women freedom to fight against that oppression. They became providers for their families and started to work their way up in the workforce, taking jobs other than teachers and secretaries. Annie Hall is a strong character who seems to be the more superior person in her relationship with Alvy. Woody Allen said that before Annie Hall, he wrote scripts from a man’s point of view. Because of the strong women who had influenced him in the movie business, he wrote Annie Hall from a woman’s point of view (Bjorkman, 86).

Mise En Scene Analysis:
One of the main aspects of mise en scene that really supports Woody Allen’s idea of women fighting their old-fashioned gender roles would have to be Diane Keaton’s costumes during the film. She wears ties, vests, and manly hats in practically every scene. This was Allen’s way of letting Keaton have the freedom to be creative with her wardrobe and let her decide how a character such as Annie Hall would have dressed. The outfit also represents an alternative style at the time the film was made. Many women were wearing manly clothes, such as tuxedos that were more feminized and fitting. This was their way of challenging the gender roles and proving that women can do exactly what men can starting with wearing the same clothes (Bjorkman. 85). Woody Allen used many long-running shots, which is a scene that runs the entire time without a cut. Allen decided not to cut these scenes because that is what real verbal communication is. There are no cuts and the interruptions in normal life, the only cuts he includes are those that would usually occur in everyday life. In conversations with men and women in many films at that time, men dominate most of the conversation and women either agree or do not say anything at all. In Annie Hall, the characters share the conversation and each person’s lines are heard.
In Annie Hall, Woody Allen focuses greatly on the density of what is included in the frame. In many of the scenes, long shots are used so that the audience can chose what to focus on. In these scenes, Woody Allen is trying to give each character equal face time. When a director uses long shots for an extended length of time, he is focusing on the characters as well as their surrounding environment. Allen is famous for his love of New York City and wanted people to appreciate the city like he did. This was his reason for using long shots that still somehow focused on the characters and their conversation. The density included the characters and the environment they are in without losing their conversation.

Ways the Film Comments on Gender, Sexuality, and Relationships:
Woody Allen’s character, Alvy does not understand women and their emotions. Many people in society associate a negative change in a woman’s attitude with her menstruation period, which is the only reason Alvy ever thinks for a woman being upset. His famous quote in Annie Hall is when Alvy says, “You’re just upset. You must be getting your period.” This demonstrates a man’s logic for why a woman would be upset. Many times, Alvy just does not even think that Annie could be upset with something he did, so he assumes that it was something he has no control over. Many times in films, when a man mentions that the woman is upset due to her period, they are trying to be disrespectful on purpose because he knows how mad it makes a woman. In Annie Hall, Alvy is simply naïve and really thinks that it must be her period. This part in the movie demonstrates the gender issue that society has conditioned us to believe that periods make women edgy and mean. The way Woody Allen makes this part comical means that society is learning and knows that if a woman is upset, it probably has nothing to do with her having her period. Women can get upset about numerous things, just like men can.
Woody Allen and Diane Keaton have had an extremely close personal and professional relationship throughout their time working together on Allen’s many films staring Keaton. He has said that it was Diane who showed him how to see things from a woman’s point of view. He wrote Annie Hall specifically so that Keaton could play the lead. Her freedom-loving spirit and overall outlook on life are mirrored in Annie Hall’s character. Allen said that he wrote Annie Hall from a woman’s point of view and wanted that woman to seem superior because he felt that the point of view of a woman was a new way of seeing the world on film.

Memorable Quote:

Annie Hall focuses on how both men and women differ in sexual relationships. Woody Allen shows how differently they think, when he has both Annie and Alvy seeing their respective therapists during a split screen shot. The respective therapists ask them, “How often do you have sex?” Alvy responds with, “Hardly ever. Maybe three times a week.” While Annie, on the other hand, says, “Constantly. I’d say three times a week.” This was Allen’s way of showing the difference between men and women’s thinking in the sexual sense. Because men think of sex thousands of times a day, having sex three times a week does not seem like a lot. For women, they do not think of sex as often so having it three times a week seems like a lot. This quote is very interesting because it truly shows the different ways each gender thinks about sex.

Love and Death, 1975

Plot Summary:
When Napoleon declares war on Russia, Boris Grushenko is called upon to fight for his mother country. He is reluctant to fight and is bullied into it by his entire family and town. He leaves behind his cousin Sonia, who he is also in love with. Through unexpected events, he is deemed a hero for capturing some French generals and soldiers. While taking a hiatus before leaving for the front lines, Boris meets Sonia at an opera. He discovers that her husband, the herring merchant, recently died and thus rekindles his relationship with her. After having an affair with a married woman, Boris is confronted by her husband. He is set to duel him, and is almost sure that it will end with his own death. In a desperate plea, he asks Sonia to marry him if he lives. She reluctantly agrees, even though she does not really love him in that way. Miraculously he survives and the two wed. For years their marriage is tense, but after a while Boris wears her down and Sonia begins to love him. Not soon after, Napoleon declares war again and Boris prepares to leave for battle. Infuriated Sonia hatches a plan to assassinate Napoleon, in order to save Boris from another war. Both travel to Paris, where they fail in their assassination attempt. Sonia evades capture; however, Boris is unfortunately executed for his treacherous actions. The final scene includes Boris and the grim reaper dancing through a field.

What Was Going on Historically in 1975:
This film was released two years after the U.S. military exit from Vietnam and conveys a mild antiwar sentiment. The war between Russia and France in the film appears to be pointless to Boris, who wonders what difference there would be living under Napoleon instead of the czar, except that the czar is taller. Boris's officers justify the war, saying it is necessary in order to spare the Russian people from am overly rich diet of heavy French creams and sauces. Just as the Vietnam war appeared senseless to many outraged young Americans, the French/Russian war appears pointless to Boris. Allen's liberal, antiwar politics are occasionally embedded in the humor of the movie although it is not a major theme.

Mise En Scene Analysis:
In one of the beginning scenes of Life and Death Woody Allen’s character, Boris, and Diane Keaton’s character, Sonia, meet in an attic. Boris has been describing his love for his cousin twice removed, Sonia, who is apparently the towns’ beauty. The scene is filmed using medium close up shots to exemplify their closeness and intimacy with one another. Their conversation moves at a fast pace, which is a style Woody Allen utilizes as a characteristic of his personality. He often has quick one liner’s that add comedy to an otherwise banal dialogue. The amalgamation of these techniques can be used to critique the age old story “man loves girl, girl loves someone else.” The angst of unrequited love is exemplified throughout this scene, by using close-ups of Boris and Sonia.
While they discuss a lighter topic of who Sonia has been offered a hand in marriage, they are filmed in medium close ups, cutting right above their chests. They are not as serious, but rather chatting as old friends. When the conversation takes a different tone, their staging positions change. Allen begins to turn away from Keaton, while arranging his body almost completely facing the camera. This technique can be interpreted as his confession to the audience and simultaneous bashfulness towards Keaton. Boris’ position exemplifies his internal struggle to tell the woman that he loves his feelings for her. Meanwhile Sonia is facing towards Boris, unnoticing of his troubles. Their dialogue and staging positions change when Sonia divulges her love for Boris’s brother. The director uses shot reverse shot as they discuss how unfit Boris’s brother, Ivan, is for Sonia because she had just been telling Boris that she wanted a man who would fulfill her “intellectual, spiritual, and sensual” passions and Ivan won’t be able to do any of those things. Their conversation is intimate and shot close up to get a greater sense of their reactions to one another. Sonia is flippant and naive while Boris is eager and skeptical.
This scene exemplifies many of Woody Allen’s theories concerning the relationships between men and women. There is an obvious tension between the two main characters, although the viewer is left to feel as if it is only on Boris’ side. The film reflects the stereotypical and satirical relationships of men and women. Supposed to be set in Russia during the 1700’s, the themes are notoriously modern. Their relationship aptly reflects a universal quality of unrequited love. Allen argues that the themes prevalent then are still apparent in the 1970’s and still apparent today. The struggle between men and women to arrive on the “same page” has and always will be a struggle of language and meaning. Boris can not properly communicate his feelings, and thus resorts to play on words and jokes. Their relationship is a reflection of problems men and women have with communication. Allen argues that women often say one thing and do another; their actions may not always coincide with their intentions. Thus, Sonja goes to marry Voskovic the herring merchant even though she claims to want a “love that scales the heights of passion.” What does that even mean anyway?
A scene involving Woody Allen and the Countess Alexandrovna exemplifies the hyper sexuality that emerged within the 70’s era. Boris sees the Countess from across the theatre; they make eye contact and proceed to flirt throughout the whole opera. Allen uses an extreme long shot to show the distance between Boris and the Countess. The establishing shot demonstrates that they are unfamiliar with one another. However as the music heightens the sexual tension within the scene grows as well; a crescendo coincides with the initiation of flirtation. The camera begins at a medium long shot and by the end they are filmed extremely close. The use of extreme close up lets the viewer see the sexual tension between the Countess and Boris. The camera catches her sensuality while she brushes her fan across her lips. Her mouth is slightly open with a seductive gaze towards Boris. On the other hand, Boris reflects her gestures with the same attempt at seduction. However, his attempt is pathetic rather than an actual seduction.
Allen uses this comical scene to explore the openness of sexuality that was appearing in films during the seventies. It is obvious the Countess is an attractive woman; however, with the acceptance of more sexually overt messages during the 70’s, she is able to show that vivacity for sex. Likewise Allen uses a parody of him acting “sexy” to argue that sexuality may not only be about looks. Throughout Life and Death it is reiterated that one would want a partner that is more than just physically appealing, but satisfies you on a greater level. This is part and parcel to the empowerment of women to feel they have a right to choose who they marry and love.

Ways the Film Comments on Gender, Sexuality and Relationships:
In the film Love and Death, Woody Allen took a look at a classical piece of literature, such as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy and modified it to realistically portray modern themes. The revolution that began in the 1960’s and continued throughout the 1970’s can be seen in any of Woody Allen’s films of that time; Love and Death thus paradigms a realistic relationship between a man and woman. Allen argues that relationships have not changed over time but the analysis and observation of his films reflect a more truthful representation. Allen often discusses the different aspects of a relationship creating a candid portrayal of the troubles between men and women. Love and Death encompasses the lust of one man for a woman, who loves another man, who in turn loves and marries another woman. The complexity of their love triangle reiterates Allen’s argument about relationships, gender and sexuality. In the 1970’s the sexual revolution made the analysis of open relationships more accessible. Unrequited love, cheating, failure and restlessness were all themes known in the world of love. However, Allen revitalized them to become normal in everyday conversation. He argued that we are all doomed to repeat the same mistakes, and maybe that’s “O.K.” The roles men and women play have been so repetitive that they are practically a joke, however up until the 70’s they were not rightly represented. Allen realistically portrays the complexities of relationships, that love can never be simply love. He claims that relationships are hard and require a lot of work just to get them to fail gracefully. The effect of the Vietnam War during the 70’s also had an effect on the films of that era. The revolution of films in the 70’s allowed Allen to speak honestly about his theories of relationships because other filmmakers were also speaking honestly about the war, sexuality and life in general. Like other films of that time Allen did not hide behind a happy ending.

Memorable Quote:
“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down.”
This quote is the sum of all of Woody Allen’s themes regarding relationships. They are complicated and miserable, yet you can’t be happy without them. It reflects the candid approach to storytelling that films created in the 70’s. They admitted that life did not always have a simple happy ending, as previous movies suggested prior to the revolution of the 70’s era. With his films Allen commentates on the reality of relationships often exposing the hardships that they encompass.