If New York is one of the biggest cities in the world, it's because the American cinema has played a central role in the construction of an iconic image. The release of New York I love you today reminds us that New York is a cinema creation through films and filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Spike Lee, Stanley Kubrick or James Gray. At the start a place for urban thrillers in the film noir (Mark Dixon), the city became part of the drama because of its vitality: crowd, skyscrapers, yellow cabs, cultural (Broadway), historical (Ellis Island), economic (downtown) and political places (the UN building). Movements are everywhere in Manhattan (Bringing out the Dead), and that's why it's a city of dreams (Once Upon in America), power (Wall Street) and disillusionment (Eyes Wide Shut).
Connected with the past, Ellis Island is the symbol of American immigration for young Italians from Corleone in The Godfather Part two. Consequently, the harbour is the link between Europe and America in many films such as Titanic, Golden Door, Gangs of New York, Fievel or, in a different way, the TV show Band of Brothers (the soldiers are going to Europe for World War 2).
In After Hours, Martin Scorsese deals with the New Yorker way of life: always in a hurry. That's why so many chases take place in Manhattan: French Connection, Die Hard with a vengeance, We own the night and many more.
When people slow-down, they are always in a bad mood: recently Edward Norton in 25th Hour, Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut, or Joaquin Phoenix in Two Lovers who had made the same experience. Depression is pretty close in the neighborhood of the Land of Plenty, loneliness and dependance are very common : Robert de Niro is crazy (Taxi Driver), Bruce Willis became an alcoholic in Die Hard With a vengeance, Jared Leto is drugged in Requiem for a Dream, Tom Cruise is sick in Vanilla Sky, Will Smith runs alone in I am Legend. New Yorkers are really tired and nervous, that's why they visit therapists a lot: Woody Allen of course but also Robert De Niro (Mafia Blues), Tony Soprano (in New Jersey), Thomas Crown and many more.
But everyone has a good reason to be depressed because the metropolis is a land of working people (Mad Men, The Hudsucker proxy, Good Night and Good Luck, Raging Bull, Men In Black) and everyone wants success (New York, New York ; Superman ; Wall Street). The main plot in New York stories are always connected to power from Family Man to Fame or Malcolm X to Spiderman, every hero wants success. Skyscrapers, Stock Exchange, Banks, Entertainment companies or UN building are struggle for power. And power attracts dreamers, workers and...bad guys!
When people slow-down, they are always in a bad mood: recently Edward Norton in 25th Hour, Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut, or Joaquin Phoenix in Two Lovers who had made the same experience. Depression is pretty close in the neighborhood of the Land of Plenty, loneliness and dependance are very common : Robert de Niro is crazy (Taxi Driver), Bruce Willis became an alcoholic in Die Hard With a vengeance, Jared Leto is drugged in Requiem for a Dream, Tom Cruise is sick in Vanilla Sky, Will Smith runs alone in I am Legend. New Yorkers are really tired and nervous, that's why they visit therapists a lot: Woody Allen of course but also Robert De Niro (Mafia Blues), Tony Soprano (in New Jersey), Thomas Crown and many more.But everyone has a good reason to be depressed because the metropolis is a land of working people (Mad Men, The Hudsucker proxy, Good Night and Good Luck, Raging Bull, Men In Black) and everyone wants success (New York, New York ; Superman ; Wall Street). The main plot in New York stories are always connected to power from Family Man to Fame or Malcolm X to Spiderman, every hero wants success. Skyscrapers, Stock Exchange, Banks, Entertainment companies or UN building are struggle for power. And power attracts dreamers, workers and...bad guys!
So, New York is the favorite place for bandits and robberies: Inside Man, Catch me if you can, Dog Day Afternoon, Die Hard with a vengeance, Batman... and some enemies want to destroy everything: Godzilla, Cloverfield, Independance Day, X-Men etc.
But New York is also a city of funny people in Friends. In New York there isn't one kind of inhabitants but a lot of communities and villages: Chinese (Year of the dragon), Italian (Mean Street), Jewish (Little Odessa), Black (Cotton Club), Artistic (All that Jazz), Gay (Serpico), Rich (Sex and the city or Vanilla Sky) even animal (the zoo from Madagascar)
In other words, in the American cinema New York is the perfect landscape to illustrate the American Success and limits: it's the place of huge dreams and little emotions.
