"Chapter one: He adored New York City. He idolized it all out of proportion". This is how Manhattan, one of Woody Allen's best films and one of the many that, over more than half a century of career, this filmmaker has dedicated to New York, his city, begins.
New York is a resoundingly cinematic city because over the years it has been the setting for dozens of memorable films and series. Especially, the island of Manhattan. I suppose, for this reason, when you walk through its streets and avenues, you feel as if you are inside a movie. In fact, you end up reproducing scenes you've seen a thousand times on screen: who hasn't stopped in front of Tiffany & Co.'s display window without taking off their sunglasses? And surely more than one Woody Allen film lover has gone crazy looking for the bench where he and Diane Keaton sit to watch the day break, while contemplating the Queensboro Bridge. I say they've gone crazy because the bench is impossible to find since it only existed in the movie. However, on the East River there are a few real benches that also invite you to sit and let time pass.
A few days ago I was thinking about cities and cinema, sitting, precisely, on a bench located in the interior of the block that has just been inaugurated in the Sagrada Familia square. The entrance is where the Niza cinema used to be and now a Mercadona. It is a surprisingly quiet and pleasant area gained for the enjoyment of citizens.
The interiors of the block are a kind of indiscreet window because in them we can spy on the life of the neighborhood. Both people and buildings have a main facade that is what we like to show the world. We try to keep it clean, tidy, put some decorative element that makes it more attractive and, above all, hide everything we consider private or embarrassing. Sometimes, the facade is a projection or a continuity of the interior, practically transparent. Others, a shell that protects our weaknesses or a mask that deceives. It's all facade, we say of someone who seems one thing and, deep down, is another.
Interior of the block that has just been inaugurated in the Sagrada Familia square.
The interiors of the block are much more sincere than the main facades of the buildings. These spaces show Barcelonans as they are behind closed doors, especially when they have just opened to the publicThe interiors of city blocks are much more sincere than the main facades of buildings. These spaces show Barcelonians as they are behind closed doors, especially when they have just been opened to the public. Balconies full of junk, dusty bicycles, marijuana plants, clothes hanging in the sun... A neighbor smokes in a tank top and underwear and flicks the ash into the patio of the downstairs neighbor who doesn't notice because he's lifting weights and doing push-ups as if there were no tomorrow. Another grills chorizo on a small barbecue and hasn't calculated that the smoke will fill the sheets hanging on the upstairs neighbor's balcony with bad smells. And that couple? They could have closed the windows and drawn the curtains before giving themselves over to unrestrained passion. What a way to moan, my goodness!
I think Woody Allen could shoot a magnificent film in Barcelona titled Interiors of City Blocks. Too bad it couldn't premiere at the Niza, nor the Novedades, nor the Urgell where, by the way, city block interiors have also been opened.
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