Two attempts at a movie spliced uneasily into one.
Ciao! Manhattan (1972)
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Synopsis: Ostensibly a documentary about Edy Sedgwick, the iconic face of Andy Warhol's Factory, CIAO! MANHATTAN is actually a scripted drama in which all the actors play themselves. Warhol's films are often characterized by an immediacy that creates a sense of voyeurism for the viewer. However,... Ostensibly a documentary about Edy Sedgwick, the iconic face of Andy Warhol's Factory, CIAO! MANHATTAN is actually a scripted drama in which all the actors play themselves. Warhol's films are often characterized by an immediacy that creates a sense of voyeurism for the viewer. However, this film has become a legitimate profile of ephemeral starlet Edy Sedgwick, as well as an in-depth look at New York during the late 1960s. Edie stars as Susan, at first a topless California hitchhiker and later a pill-popping Vogue sensation flitting about Andy Warhol's New York scene. Susan is a disenchanted young woman who has left New York City for her mother's home in California. Sleeping in the dilapidated swimming pool, she is trapped in a strange world, suffocated by her overly domestic, pie-baking mother. Her memories of New York are shown through flashbacks, where she was part of Warhol's infamous family of artists and eccentrics. Shocking, entertaining, and moving, CIAO! MANHATTAN is a seminal piece of 1960s cinema that is in a genre all its own. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Edie Sedgwick, Isabel Jewell, Baby Jane Holzer, Roger Vadim, Viva
Screenwriter: John Palmer, David Weisman
Producer: Robert Margouleff, David Weisman
DVD Info
Release:
Dec 11, 2002
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. John Palmer and David Weisman - Directors, Wesley Hayes - Star
- Production Interview - 1. George Plimpton - Author
- 2. Betsey Johnson - Costume Designer
- 3. David Weisman - Director
- 4. Wesley Hayes - Star
- Featurette - 1. The Lost CIAO! MANHATTAN Reels
Interactive Features:
- Scene Access
- Interactive Menus
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Stills/Photos
Reviews
The narrative is rambling, but there are some genuine, inspired comic moments.
Whether [Edie Sedgwick] is acting or stoned-for-real with a model's instincts propping her up, her performance is wonderful, highly amusing at all the right moments, yet melancholy in a way which is free of self-pity.
At bottom Ciao! Manhattan is cruel exploitation -- though the film is dedicated to Miss Sedgwick's memory, an ultimate indignity.
Ciao! Manhattan is ultimately a testament to the odd, elastic nature of the '60s.


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