Romantic Comedy Opening Sequences - 'Manhattan'

The third romantic comedy/farce I will be looking at and analysing is, Manhattan.

The film Manhattan opens with quite tranquil and sophisticated music (unusual for a film from this genre). Over the music there are different establishing shots of Manhattan, which change/are edited to the beat of the music. This could highlight the fact that this film does not follow the typical narrative structure of the genre.

A voiceover can be heard over the different shots of Manhattan, starting with "Chapter One"; this reflects the fairytale aesthetic and storytelling of rom-coms.

The voiceover of the main protagonist suggests a character who keeps on second guessing himself (his insecurities and indecisiveness acts as an obstacle to him throughout the narrative as he attempts to find love) when trying to remember what was written in the letter. His words, "no, let me start this over", emphasise the farcical nature of the film.

The narrator talks about New York City, where the film is set (Manhattan). A common convention of a romantic comedy, is that they are usually set in big cities, for example London, Paris and New York City.

More specifically, the voiceover talks about a certain man who "romanticised" New York City "all out of proportion", which shows a true 'romantic' in the person the voiceover is talking about, whilst cleverly highlighting the unrealistic and clichéd nature of films from the genre.

At the end of the opening sequence, there is an extreme long shot of fireworks going off at the same time as the sound of a loud trumpet booms from the music; this exaggeration adds a further comedic element to the scene.