Manhatta
{{Short description|1922 film}}
{{About|the 1921 film|the New York City borough|Manhattan|its early history|Mannahatta (disambiguation){{!}}Mannahatta}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Manhatta
| image =
| caption =
| director = {{ubl|Charles Sheeler|Paul Strand}}
| producer =
| writer =
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| starring =
| music =
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| released = {{Film date|1921}}
| runtime = 10 minutes
| country = United States
| language = Silent film
English intertitles
| budget =
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File:Manhatta (Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler, 1921).webm
Manhatta (1921) is a short documentary film directed by painter Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand.
Production background
Manhatta documents the early 20th-century look of Manhattan. With the city as subject, the film consists of 65 shots sequenced in a loose non-narrative structure, beginning with the Staten Island ferry approaching Manhattan and concludes with a sunset view from a skyscraper. Often considered by some to be the first American avant-garde film,{{Cite book|title=Manly Arts: Masculinity and Nation in Early American Cinema.|last=Gerstner|first=David|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0822337638|location=Durham|pages=119–64}} its primary objective 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/artists_view/manhatta_main.html |title=Artists View New York | Explore & Learn | the Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=December 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008013735/http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/artists_view/manhatta_main.html |archive-date=October 8, 2009 |url-status=dead }}
Manhatta was a collaboration between painter/photographer Charles Sheeler and photographer Paul Strand. The film features intertitles that include excerpts from the writings of Walt Whitman.
Preservation status
In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".{{Cite web|title=The 25 Films for '95 (February 5, 1996) - Library of Congress Information Bulletin|url=https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9602/nfr2.html|access-date=2020-12-11|website=www.loc.gov}}{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-12-11|website=Library of Congress}} Restoration proved difficult, as the negative was lost, and only a single, heavily damaged 35mm print remained in existence. It was restored for the DVD set Unseen Cinema in October 2005. The film was completely restored in January 2009 by archivist Bruce Posner, in collaboration with film restoration company Lowry Digital.{{cite web|url=http://www.lowrydigital.com/filmography.html|title=Filmography|publisher=Lowry Digital|accessdate=June 28, 2009}} Posner spent close to four years returning the film to its original glory. The Museum of Modern Art and Anthology Film Archives also commissioned a new score from New York composer Donald Sosin.{{cite web|url=http://kcet.org/local/blogs/blur_sharpen/2009/01/proud-and-passionate-city.html|title=Proud and Passionate City|last=Willis|first=Holly|date=January 19, 2009|work=Blur + Sharpen|publisher=KCET Online / Community Television of Southern California|accessdate=June 28, 2009}}
See also
- Rien que les heures (1926)
- Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927)
- Man With a Movie Camera (1929)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{wikisource}}
- {{IMDb title|id=0131468|title=Manhatta}}
- {{Internet Archive short film|id=Manhatta_1921|name=Manhatta}}
- [http://unseen-cinema.com/ Unseen Cinema website]
- Manhatta essay by Daniel Eagan in "America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry", Bloomsbury Academic, 2010. {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 76–77. [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC]
{{Paul Strand}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1922 documentary films
Category:1920s rediscovered films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American documentary films
Category:American silent short films
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:Black-and-white documentary films
Category:Documentary films about New York City
Category:Films set in Manhattan
Category:Rediscovered American films