- Manhatta
-
Manhatta Directed by Charles Sheeler
Paul StrandRelease date(s) 1921 Running time 10 mins Country 
United StatesLanguage Silent
English intertitlesFull film
Manhatta (1921) is a short documentary film directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand.
Contents
Production background
Manhatta documents the look of early-20th-century Manhattan. With the city as subject, the film consists of 65 shots sequenced in a loose non-narrative structure, beginning with a ferry approaching Manhattan and ending with a sunset view from a skyscraper. The primary objective of the film is to explore the relationship between photography and film; camera movement is kept to a minimum, as is incidental motion within each shot. Each frame provides a view of the city that has been carefully arranged into abstract compositions.[1]
The film was an attempt to show the filmmakers' love for the city of New York. Manhatta was a collaboration between painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand. The intertitles include excerpts from the writings of Walt Whitman.
Preservation status
The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress, selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, and was restored for the DVD set Unseen Cinema in October 2005. The film was completely restored in January 2009 by archivist Bruce Posner, working with film restoration company Lowry Digital.[2] Posner spent close to four years returning the film to its original glory.[3]
References
- ^ http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/artists_view/manhatta_main.html
- ^ "Filmography". Lowry Digital. http://www.lowrydigital.com/filmography.html. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ Willis, Holly (2009-01-19). "Proud and Passionate City". Blur + Sharpen. KCET Online / Community Television of Southern California. http://kcet.org/local/blogs/blur_sharpen/2009/01/proud-and-passionate-city.html. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
See also
- Experimental film
- Rien que les heures (1926)
- Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927)
- Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
External links
- Manhatta at the Internet Movie Database
- The short film Manhatta is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- Manhatta at AllRovi
- Unseen Cinema website
Categories:- 1922 films
- Documentary films about cities
- United States National Film Registry films
- Black-and-white films
- Films shot in New York City
- American documentary films
- 1920s documentary films
- Arts documentary film stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
