Manhattan -Woody Allen -1979 (PR9)

     MANHATTAN  

There are few moviemakers as indigenous—or iconic—to New York City as Woody Allen, who has given moviegoers the world over a taste for the Big Apple. 

While his films offer seminal New York City moments—a stroll through Central Park, a sunrise over the Brooklyn Bridge—they are also imbued with the larger spirit of the city itself.
Woody is hardly alone in his love affair with America ’s most cinematic city. 

Here, the opening scene from a masterpiece which shows a writer struggling to compose his first line in his new novel in the city that never sleeps.

TASK 1. LISTEN TO THIS PASSAGE
Manhattan (Opening)

TASK2. State the time you need to read this five sentences at quick pace (prominent syllables + linking items). Mind you, they are the pieces of the text that the character is currently typing on a sheet.

Seconds needed?

§ He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion

§ he romanticized it all out of proportion

§ He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else

§ He adored New York City. To him, it was a metaphor
for the decay of contemporary culture

§ He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved

LANGUAGE PRACTICE

TASK3. In the first listening copy the five items in the order you hear them. The five statements below are comments of the writer about his work which show the process of writing the first lines of a theatre script. 

Ø Let me try and make it more profound
1 - …………………………….……………
Ø Yeah, let me start this over.
2 - …………………………….……………
Ø I love this
3 - …………………………….……………
Ø Let’s face it, I want to sell some books here.
4 - …………………………….……………
Ø No, make that….
5 - …………………………….……………

Transcript:

Chapter One: “He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion.”
No, make that:
“He… he romanticized it all out of proportion.” Yeah. “To him, no matter what the season was, this was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin.”
Ah, let me start this over. 

Chapter One:
“He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. He thrived on the hustle-bustle of the crowds and the traffic. To him, New York meant beautiful women and street-smart guys who seemed to know all the angles.”
Nah, corny; too corny for my taste. Let me try & make it more profound.
Chapter one:“He adored New York City. To him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. The same lack of individual integrity to cause so many people to take the easy way out was rapidly turning the town of his dreams in…”
It’s gonna be too preachy. I mean, let’s face it, I want to sell some books here.

Chapter one:“He adored New York City. Although to him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. How hard it was to exist in a society desensitized by drugs, loud music, television, crime, garbage...”
Too angry. I don’t want to be angry.
Chapter One:
“He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat.” I love this. “New York was his town—and it always would be.”