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The ever bustling metropolis that is New York City is simply a massive background for films to be based, from the early cinema era of the decades of the 20’s where studios have tried to replicate the City to the now modern 21st century cinema that is the ever growing blockbusters to the multi narratives, the city itself is a canvas for filmmakers and plots to be built around this inglorious city.
The city of New York transcends the area of film including its specific genres, the city itself has a way of immersing its architecture, the chosen surroundings and its citizens. Taking the genre of disaster films the city of New York can be seen being destroyed in a number of many but creative ways.
The space around New York is either engulfed in flames, swept away by tsunami waters, or hit by some sort of meteorite. For example in the disaster laden “The Day After Tomorrow”[1] the city suffers a string of disasters as a cause of global warming, after the city is hit by a mega wave which notably engulfs the whole city including the Statue of Liberty.
After the city is hit by this it then suffers a frozen effect which completely solidifies its surrounding buildings, many long term citizens which were witnessing the footage on screen simply could not believe that the fair city had perceived this catastrophic effect, many of their landmarks and architectures had been completely destroyed as a cause of this, but depending on the specific genre the disaster film genre is one of the most impressive ones seen on screen as it challenges the filmmakers to work with the environment around New York and how to adjust it in such as a shocking way it can become barely unrecognizable.
The disaster genre wreaks havoc amongst New York making the spectators which are citizens of New York having fear onto a new level wondering if some of these disasters will happen one day but some others are purely into it for the entertainment factor and to be thrilled. The director’s creativity along with his technical team must work hard to emulate disaster upon New York, at the same time they must preserve the city due to the plot of the film but at the same time entertaining audiences and giving them the option to see New York City destroyed.
Godzilla[2] builts up the disaster of New York City by slowly introducing the beast that will be the main cause of the disaster the radioactive animal that is Godzilla based on the Japanese characters who wreaked havoc in another grand city of Tokyo.
In this case New York City is seen as the “victim” as the beast causes irreparable amount of damage to the city, the rain also throughout the film adds to the phenomenal destructive environment of the crumbles of New York City as it is used as a sort of playground for the beast to destroy everything there is around him. The final climactic scene takes place as the infamous Madison Square Garden where it is a place for hosting live sports matches and concerts, the venue itself acts a nest for the offspring of Godzilla and the within the daunting environment surrounded by these beasts it creates a sense of closed space but ironically in quite a huge place, at the end the venue is completely obliterated by fighter jets and thus the detrimental outcome of Godzilla’s presence comes at an end but still the results can be seen around what is left of New York City in its damaged building, skyscrapers and landmarks.
“King Kong”[3] is a hugely early example of a disaster ridden feature which features a ferocious finale set in the backdrop of 1930’s New York, the audiences having witnessed this gigantic animal rampaging and causing chaos in the city would not have prepared for what was to follow one of the most memorable scenes in New York City history of the legendary climb of King Kong along the Empire State Building which immediately put in place the most striking and iconic scene in the city’s history which also spiked a huge increase in tourism of the city and the skyscraper itself. No audience had ever witnessed such a feat and this would be set in stone for ever in the memory of New York City and a fitting tribute to the vastly rich environment of what the city can be used in a disaster film and the destruction of it.
Drawing away from the disaster genre itself now moving towards a lighter but a more suited side of genre of the grand city is the Romantic genre. From this New York can be truly seen for what it is as several directors convey a rich and yet interactive environment for its protagonists to act upon, particularly director Woody Allen who uses the splendid environment of New York as a rich background for his films.
Manhattan[4] with its glorious opening scene of the New York city is one of the best introduction any city would ask for and using one of the world’s greatest cities with such as wonderful magnitude of an opening is surely a brilliant homage to the fair city. The characteristics of the never ending skyscrapers, superb skylines and the ever busy streets of the City make this film a sign of things to come from the fair city and question the audience as to what kind of characters will be introduced to use the city as their backdrop and their environment.
What is even more striking about this feature is that it is set in black and white which in my opinion brings out the city of New York even more, more detailed is paid attention to as Allen uses the unconventional method of setting this film in black and white which in a way makes the city more striking along with George Gershwin music it becomes magic. The film itself was shot in widescreen using specific cameras for it, thus making the astonishing landscape of New York more decadent and noticeable; the characters themselves also look like they are comfortable with the city itself and the chemistry between them is pleasant to watch.
Drawing along the lines of romance in New York City almost every type of weather is suitable for it for the specified genre, all four seasons of Spring, Winter, Summer and Autumn can each be characterized in their own way within the setting of a romantic feature. More importantly one personification of New York City is the ever important Central Park where in most films acts as rendezvous space of characters and also a prime location of a romantic get together. A day in New York in a romantic genre film the space may be used internally as well as externally for the onscreen characters, a typical downtown café as a meeting point between two key characters set in the backdrop of New York as well as a walk in Central Park to forward the romanticism of the protagonists on screen.
Sure the day can be a good setting of romance in New York but night time in New York City shows an entirely different impression of the City, as can be seen in the opening of Manhattan, New York at night is shown an entirely different significance. The lights of the ever tall skyscrapers, the lights of the cars along the Brooklyn Bridge and especially the world famous Times Square make New York a real wonder at night and especially in romantic genre it really adds beauty to the plot of the film and makes the space around it ever so more adoring, this is where the cultural side of New York makes a lasting impression, from their magnificently set restaurants of a storyline to a romantic stroll in the park for the characters, the romantic genre set within the city of New York paints a beautiful picture and really does define the genre itself in terms of passion and wonder to truly show that New York City can be as romantic as other cities around the world.
The environment of the city and the noises it creates from the beep of the vehicles in traffic to the ever bustling citizens of this vast metropolis the film genre as a whole when set in New York City has endless possibilities, taking into account now the comedy genre in which from this an unlimited amount of comic characters can evolve from the city itself and provide a lighter side to the city while involving it as their platform to do it. Classic comic films such as Trading Places[5], Coming To America[6], Ghostbusters[7] mainly set in the 1980’s used once again New York as a backdrop to their film. Trading Places which features a well-known occupation place setting and yet another important iconic place of Wall Street to drive on the film, also the typical stereotype of Wall Street bankers as another recognized New York citizen characteristic, Coming To America which deals with an outside individual who has become familiarized with their homeland arriving in United States and immediately seeking residence in New York but in a much poorer part of the city which can be seen as a slum side of New York, but immediately they are flustered from the African lands to the busy and bustling city of New York, but throughout the film other New York stereotypes can be seen from taxi drivers, to barbers all played to brilliant comical effect.
Ghostbusters also takes the city of New York while residing from the comedy genre it turns the city into paranormal playground for all types of comical chaos to ensue, many of New York’s landmarks can be seen but with paranormal forces within its space, the ghosts can be seen as intruders of this space while the Ghostbusters try to banish them away as they appear as a threat to the environment of the City, with more noticeably towards the end when an colossal marshmallow man figure which can be seen causing pandemonium in the city but this is played for laughs and in great effect too.
The comic genre set within New York City is one of the most effective because the city itself can act as a great space for the characters to act around in, the central role of taxi drivers and their characteristics make this genre unique in a way as the comedy genre plays more well drawing from the 1980’s sitcom of “Taxi”[8].
Also the comedy genre borrows of several occupations from New York city to create a rough storyline and perhaps background levels of the characters. A comedy set in New York can borrow from its vast environment and set up a storyline and situations in which many citizens of the city itself may have experienced in their time while living in New York, the comedy genre can relate much better to citizens of New York as in the other genres because comedy can be discovered around us and it is certain individuals which reside in the city as well as the several personalities which can be discovered in the millions of people residing the illustrious city.
Another genre now in which can also be related to another city of Chicago but this genre I feel best works even better for New York City due to its criminal history and the war between the law and the criminals which co-exist and battle in New York. The gangster genre which can be a sub-genre of action may perhaps be one of the most multi character narrative genres and when set in New York City can account for epic features and countless memorable moments on screen.
This genre personifies New York City and shows the real grittiness and at the same time the glamorous side to it but not overdoing it in a way which appears to perfect for it to live in, the crime genre uses the city of New York to conduct its crimes and work the gangsters around it. A typical bank robbery in New York is more stylish than that set in any other city, due to the fact that we already have that air of awareness of New York and no matter what decade the film is set we already know the stereotypical attention that is taken.
For example The Godfather Part I and The Godfather Part II[9] both have scenes featured in New York, the arrival of immigrants always has that image of Statue of Liberty which is the first wonder that all the immigrants when they came to the city first saw exemplifying hope and freedom that they can do something with their lives and adopt a new start in the great city, Rhode Island which is where the immigrants arrived to start a new life in the city and hopefully discover the “American dream”.
Young Don Vito Corleone arrives in this city to start afresh but only still young he must quickly adapt to the massive space around him that is New York city and quickly learn the ways as well, he must become an immediate citizen of the city and through that go from a temporary resident to a permanent principle of the city.
The war between the authorities and the criminals set in New York City opts for a stand out masterwork while at the same time having a war rage between criminals and criminals also having the control of the authorities trying to enforce peace and order within the city makes the gangster crime genre indestructible set amongst the volatile environment of New York city in its chosen decade.
Drawing upon the criminals now begins yet another classic feature set in New York City which uses the space around it to its maximum and as a central and vital plot point which is “The Warriors”[10].
The frightening nightmarish environment of New York is truly witnessed here as the platform turns into a terrifying and beastly environment where danger is at almost every corner. This film marks the perfect example of a truly destructive space of New York as one gang while being followed by several around them must navigate the dangerous streets of New York to get home alive.
A huge war consumes the city around with these rebellious and dangerous citizens, the menacing gangs which co-exist within New York only come out at night and the reason is shown as the darkness of the city becomes a part of them and the beautiful image we have of New York during the day and at night becomes something more unimaginable and horrific as we witness several gang devour and patrol the city for one thing only- to attack and to use the harsh environment around them to their advantage to do so.
The journey of the chosen gang in which they must do in order to get to home safety stretches a colossal thirty miles in which lies perhaps the most dangerous gangs ever to be conceived, so immediately we see how an almost impossible trek wasn’t easy there are also gangs to deal with. The space in one second becomes immediately perilous and we see how individuals can also be a part of the threat but also what becomes a much bigger threat is what the City itself is capable of at its darkest.
With the environmental space becoming a threat we see how New York can quickly transform to an unimagined dangerous space, the war between gangs as well as the war between drugs which closely follows the uneasy going relationship of criminal drug lords and the police.
Drug trafficking and drug dealing as witnessed in “American Gangster”[11] which centres around a heroine kingpin and a detective who tries to bring him down, the film set around Manhattan in New York City shows the transportation of drugs around that environment, the city acts as a host of drug transportation and also a route for drugs to be transported to their location. Brooklyn itself is used a warehouse for the drugs to be stored, so already we see how the city becomes a sole and perhaps a major plot location. An already separate actor space that is New York City is the environment in which at the same time conceals the drugs from the authorities while raging a drug war to find them.
The city offers two realms of the spectre on both side of the law; it acts as a villain’s territory but at the same time acting as a hero’s path to conquer. New York is both a bad and good guy’s best friend to have as it offers several locations to pinpoint and store information.
The authorities act as an enforcer to the city and help protect it while the criminals and kingpins the higher authorial convicts use the space around them to do evil and to transport the drugs, both sides of the spectrum must each know every path that is around their space because that is the only way both sides of the law can meet.
Even when both are present in the same space, if no threat is detected there is still dangerous tension between the two, the city itself acts as a significant backdrop in the company of the two factions- the law and the criminal.
Gangs of the city itself tend to outnumber the number of police officers which exist within the city and perhaps a very early set example of this is in “Gangs of New York”[12]. The birth of gangs in the city saw us witness that there was even an earlier influence in this of immigrants coming into New York, which begged the question that was the biggest influence of New York born through immigrants?
New York is populated by several cultures and most of their ancestors emerged from immigration coming into the country through New York City, the city itself acted as an important import of immigrants coming through virtually every day, the strong European influence of the citizens coming through and quickly conforming through the American way gave birth to the multi-cultural space around the city.
Each member of the early gangs back in the late 1800’s have some form of influence from Easter European descent and back then the environment was much more destructive than it is today, there was much less authority on the street and far more corruption so less control was there to be taken.
Disease on the streets was also more common, as technological breakthrough had not yet taken place, so one can imagine the horror there was around them, and the City itself did not have that air about it that it has now at both day and night. Back then the City of New York was a menacing and destructive environment in some parts; some parts were not protected by the streets but were overrun with gangs and hatred, so it was particularly easy to see how far the city has come.
When it comes to a film genre and setting that film genre along with its characters and plot, the city of New York crosses a lot of borders as it in itself becomes an establishing space around the film. The space of the city uses itself ever so eloquently depending on the film genre it wishes to portray. The multi-dimensional platform and what can be done with the city is truly staggering, each of the icon’s which exist in the city have their part to play to, but what makes New York different than any other city out there is that it can easily become engulfed in a film ever so easily that sometimes nothing is needed to be adjusted, no skyscrapers removed, no sky a different colour, just the manifestation of this diversified city is enough to drive a genre any way.
New York City even if some people have never been offers us a chance to escape to it every day, by witnessing certain iconic films which have made something perfect even more flawless is enough for some people to truly think about what they have witnessed. The City offers endless possibilities for a film to be set in regardless the genre, the space which is built around the film is vital in order for New York city to truly encompass the sheer magnitude of its existence and the existence of a city canvas, which is there for a film to become a part of a masterwork of a powerful architectural presence that is New York City.
References
The Day after Tomorrow http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319262/
Godzilla http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120685/
King Kong http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360717/
Manhattan http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079522/
Trading Places http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086465/
Coming To America http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094898/
Ghost Busters http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087332/
Taxi http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077089/
The Godfather http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/
The Godfather Part II http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/
The Warriors http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/
American Gangster http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765429/
Gangs of New York http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217505/
Bibliography
Barber, Stephen “Projected Cities: Cinema and Urban Space” (London: Reaktion, 2002) Stephen Barber
Shiel, Mark Fitzmaurice,Tony “Cinema and the City: Film and Urban Societies in a Global Context (Studies in Urban & Social Change Series) (Studies in Urban and Social Change)” (2001) Wiley-Blackwell, Mark Shiel, Tony Fitzmaurice
Clarke, David “The Cinematic City [Hardcover]” (1997) Routledge; 1st Edition, David Clarke
Marcus, Alan Neumann, Dietrich “Visualizing the City (Architext) [Paperback]” (2008) Routledge; New Edition, Alan Marcus, Dietrich Neumann
Codell, F. Julie “Genre, Gender, Race, and World Cinema: An Anthology [Paperback]” (2006) Wiley-Blackwell, Julie F. Codell
Grant, Barry “Film Genre Reader [Paperback]” (2004) University of Texas Press; 3rd Revised edition, Barry Grant
James E., David “To Free the Cinema: Jonas Mekas and the New York Underground [Paperback]” (1992) Princeton University Press, David E. James
Jr Haberski J. Raymond “Freedom to Offend: How New York Remade Movie Culture” (2007) The University Press of Kentucky, Raymond J. Haberski Jr
Pomerance, Murray “City That Never Sleeps: New York and the Filmic Imagination” (2007) Rutgers University Press, Murray Pomerance
[1] The Day After Tomorrow Dir. Roland Emmerich (2004)
[2] Godzilla Dir. Roland Emmerich (1998)
[3] King Kong Dir. James Ashmore Creelman (1933)
[4] Manhattan Dir. Woody Allen (1979)
[5] Trading Places Dir. John Landis (1983)
[6] Coming To America Dir. John Landis (1988)
[7] Ghostbusters Dir. Ivan Reitman (1984)
[8] Taxi Created By James L.Brooks, Stan Daniels, David Davis, Ed Weinberger (1978-1983)
[9] The Godfather & The Godfather Part II Dir. Francis Ford Coppola (1972) (1974)
[10] The Warriors Dir. Walter Hill (1979)
[11] American Gangster Dir. Ridley Scott (2007)
[12] Gangs of New York Dir. Martin Scorsese (2002)
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