Manhattan

I first watched Manhattan - Woody Allen's love story set in and about New York city - in early 2005. It was an interesting time in my life when my University education was finishing, I was looking for a job and was all-too-aware that a chapter in my life was about to come to an end. I had always harboured desires to go and see America - so when my imminent move across the country to a new job sharpened my interest in places and travelling I resolved to travel to New York.



One of the best bits about having a job is that you have the money to do the things you want to. So 4 months into my new job I had saved up enough to fly out over the pond and spend a week in Manhattan. It wasn't quite the black and white urban jungle of Allen's movies (it rained relentlessly) but it did ignite a desire inside me to see the world that persists to this day.

Take a look at the opening sequence to the film. Allen narrates over Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, telling us why New York is the greatest place on earth and why his heart will always lie there. I've been twice now and its cosmopolitan bustle fills me with excitement every time I think about it. If you're not been, go. If you don't want to go, watch Manhattan.