New York, New York

The topic of Martin Scorsese's films came up on Gone Elsewhere the other day and it occurred to me that I've seen all of his features (at least those he's made since Who's That Knocking on My Door?) except for one: his 1977 film New York, New York. I do own a copy of it, though, since I got a Scorsese boxed set a few years ago as a gift, so I pulled it out and gave it a look.

The film was a failure both critically and financially, and it's easily apparent why. Scorsese, who had been known for his gritty, realistic movies, wanted to try something different. He made a film that was intentionally artificial in appearance, harkening back to the musicals of his youth. Scorsese's immediate film before this one was Taxi Driver, and it's hard to believe New York, New York was made by the same man in the space of two years. A film with this kind of artifice was antithetical to the trend of American movies in the '7os.

Scorsese's experiment was successful as far as look of the film is considered. It's quite gorgeous in its theatricality, especially those scenes that are shot on soundstages, such as one set in a snowy forest with trees that are obviously fake, or process shots in moving vehicles. There's a very lovely scene of a character in a train station, with the snow falling an obvious special effect. The problem is that Scorsese forgot to give us an interesting story and sympathetic characters.

The film details the relationship between Robert DeNiro, as a saxophone player, and Liza Minelli, as a singer, in the years following World War II. DeNiro's performance is not one of his best, although it's hard to blame him, because his character is such a roaring asshole. A lot of the mannerisms that he's come to be associated with are on display here, and by the end of this very long film you just want him to go away. Minelli fares a little better, but the problem at the heart of this is that the two have no chemistry (has DeNiro ever been in a good film in which he had a romantic relationship with a woman?)At the beginning of the film, there's a long scene in a ballroom on V-J day, when DeNiro tries to pick up Minelli. She puts him off repeatedly, and yet after a while they end up sharing a cab. The next thing you know they're hot and heavy, but we have no clue why. DeNiro is hardly anything but awful to her, and she just takes it, so the whole experience is unpleasant from start to finish.

The most well-known aspect of the film is it's theme song, written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, which became a big hit after it was recorded by Frank Sinatra. It's played after the end of every game at Yankee Stadium, but you have to wonder how many people remember the movie from whence it originated.