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Alex Constas
Professor Kennedy
English 148
24 March 2018
Take-Home Exam #1
1. Manhattan

Woody Allen’s 1979 film, Manhattan, came to audiences a few years after the 1960’s sexual

revolution but just before the major AIDS epidemic that will come in the 1980’s. This decade of

time was a period for experimentation, self-discovery, and having fun. Throughout Manhattan,

Allen successfully captures the essence of living in the sexual revolution era. Allen’s characters

and their narratives provide a handful examples of how people actually lived, as well as their

attitudes, during the sexual revolution.

The age gap between Isaac, 42, and his high school girlfriend Tracy, 17, is 25 years. Nowadays,

Isaac would have probably been labeled as a pedophile and would’ve been place on a watch list.

After Tracy confessed her love to Isaac, her responds with. “Hey, don't get carried away, okay?

This is—this is a terrific thing … But you're a kid, and—and I never want you to forget that, you

know. I mean, you're gonna meet a lot of terrific men in your life and . . . You know, I want you

to enjoy me, my—my wry sense of humor and (Chuckling) astonishing sexual technique, but never

forget that, you know, you've—you've got your whole life ahead of you.” (Allen). Isaac’s response

is somewhat mature, disregarding his glorification of his “sexual technique”. Even though he is

still attracted to Tracy and continues having feelings for her, he reminds her that she has her whole

life ahead of her and warns her not to get too caught up on him. Within the standards of what is

socially accepted today, this part of the film does not translate well. However, it is a historical

account, as this is how free and open people were during the sexual revolution of the 1960’s.
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Through his characters, Allen shows that people have multiple partners. Isaacs best friend

Yale, who is married to Emily, is having an affair with a woman named Mary, a snobbish

woman from Philadelphia. In any day and age, infidelity is something that is always looking

down upon, yet this situation in the film suggest the open and free attitudes people had during

that time. Later in the film, Mary stops seeing Yale and starts getting into a relationship with

Isaac, just after he broke up with Tracy. Isaac and Mary enjoy their time together, yet it does not

last. Mary later confesses that she is “…still in love with Yale.” (Allen). Mary appears to be

unsure of what she wants, like both Isaac and Yale. They all have relationships with each other

and yet they never last because all of them are in search for something else. The actions of

Allen’s characters showcase the fast pace dating game of the sexual revolution era.

2A. Double Indemnity

In his 1944 film, Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder presents Phyllis Dietrichson, a woman

who is the essence of the femme fatal and film noir. Beyond the narrative itself, the story

presents the dark side of humanity with its dark lighting, seemingly too perfect blonde women,

and voice-over narrations.

The darkness of the film is something that the audience doesn’t have to second guess.

When Phyllis and Neff are about to murder Mr. Dietrichson, Neff hides in the back of the car

waiting for the perfect time to strangle him. This all occurs at night. Phyllis drives down a small

dark street while Neff is in the back hiding. One notable shot from the camera is when it focuses

on Neff’s face as he hides in the car. The shot is only focused on Neff’s face as everything else is

just too dark to see. This darkness and all that comes with it; the shadows, the hiding, the

manipulation, are all themes that are constantly maintained throughout the film.
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When the audience first meets Phyllis Dietrichson, she stands on the second-floor ledge

of her home, gazing down at the audience, wearing only a towel. Her seemingly too-perfect

blonde hair rests atop her delicate face which showcases her heart piercingly beautiful eyes and

her desirable lips. This grand entry is an excellent way to showcase who Phyllis really is. Like

the manipulators and liars in real life, Phyllis is a clear manipulator as she disguises herself as a

beautiful house wife. Her appearance is attractive, but deadly.

The voice-over narrations allow the audience to see the true intentions and internal

dialogue of any character. In the dark and mischievous world of Double Indemnity, this suggests

that people do not do what they say they will do, and people are not always who we believe them

to be. During the scene where Phyllis is spending time with Neff in his apartment, the audience

hears his voice-over, “So we just sat there, and she kept on crying softly… Maybe she had

stopped thinking about it, but I hadn't. I couldn't. Because it all tied up with something I had been

thinking about for years, since long before I ever ran into Phyllis Dietrichson. Because, in this

business you can't sleep for trying to figure out the tricks they could pull on you.”(Wilder).

Neff’s voice-over shows that he is a constant thinker and that he might not actually want to aide

Phyllis in killing her husband. However, throughout the entirety of the film, Neff never admits

that he is hesitant about sticking to the plan.

3. Breathless

In his 1960 French New Wave film, Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard presents two similar

characters, Michel Poiccard and Patricia Franchini. Though different in nature, they both

struggle in their searching and questioning for answers and meaning to their existence.

In the opening scene of the film, the audience is introduced to Michel. He is seen leaning

up against the front of a shop smoking a rolled cigarette as he reads a French magazine with a
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woman in her underwear on the cover titled “Paris Flirt”. From this very first scene, the audience

can already guess how Michel carries himself as well as what type of character he will be. After

leaving the shop where he smoked his cigarette, Michel gets into a police chase and ends up

shooting and killing a police officer. The nature of Michel is destructive. It is clear that he does

not think about consequences or how his actions will affect him.

Michel is careless when it comes to other human beings and their feelings. In an early

scene Michel is in a bedroom with Liliane, asking having a flirtatious conversation with her.

While she gets dressed and puts her makeup on, he gently touches her as they make small talk.

She offers him a large sum of money, but he declines. Then when she steps into the bathroom,

quickly grabs the stack of cash and takes it without her knowing. To be able to do something like

steal money from a friend, Michel must be a master manipulator and a very sneaky individual.

The way that Godard portrays Patricia is very different. In her first scene, the audience

watches Patricia as she walks down a roadway offering people the “New York Herald Tribune”.

She is a student and aspiring journalist. Her mannerism and way of handling herself is very

polite and sincere. After Michel approaches her, she speaks to him with ease and

kindheartedness. Michel then asks her why she never wears a bra, to which Patricia replies

asking Michel to not talk like that. It is clear that Patricia is well mannered and cares about

others respecting her personal space.

In a later scene where Patricia is interviewing a man who is surrounded by journalists like

herself, Patricia repeatedly asks the same question as the other journalists overpower her selfless

voice. Patricia finally gets to ask, “Do women have a role to play in modern society?”. The man

she is interviewing gives her a flirty response, ultimately saying that they do if they are her.

Patricia clearly is a deep and critical thinker as she ponders the question of her existence in
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modern society. However, she too is also careless as she continues to associate herself with

scheming Michel.
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Works Cited

 Allen, Woody. Manhattan. Yanko Library.

< http://yanko.lib.ru/books/cinema/ScreenplayManhattanbyWoodyAllen_sl.htm>

 Godard, Jean-Luc. Breathless.

 Wilder, Billy. Double Indemnity. Weekly Script.

<https://www.weeklyscript.com/Double+Indemnity.html>