Terror In The Celluloid City

8/20/2019 Terror In The Celluloid City

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Independent Study

Terror in the celluloid city – examining the

impact of 9/11 on New York in cinema.


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Table of contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. Page 3

Chapter 1 : Disaster, Memory and the Silver Screen………………………. Page 11

Chapter 2 : Memory, Twin Towers, Cinematic Constructs………………… Page 18

Chapter 3 : Cinematic Skyline, Vertical Uncertainty………………………..Page 24

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………..Page 31

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………Page 35

Filmography………………………………………………………………….Page 37

Appendix…………………………………………………………………….Page 39


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City of the world (for all races are here)

City of tall facades of marble and iron

Proud and passionate city

Thus read the opening titles of Paul Strand and Charles Sheeler‟s documentary, Manhatta

(1921), quoting a selection of lines from Walt Whitman‟s poem, City of Ships (1865.)

Capturing 1920‟s New York on celluloid, it is just one piece of the historical love story

between cinema and the “Big Apple.” Unequivocally, since the birth of film, New York City

has cultivated an iconic and lavish cinematic persona. (fig.1) It is an identity that has

developed parallel to the city, enhanced by what Giuliana Bruno describes as its “intrinsically

filmic” nature. 1 Bruno proposes that, “photogenic by way of nature and architecture”, whilst

exhibiting “social contradictions”, New York complements “the spectacle of motion

pictures.” 2

Whitman‟s lines in Manhatta, describing its architectural might, and pride as a “city

of the world”, might inform us that the appeal of Cinematic New York has been recognised

from the earliest days of film-making practices – despite - as Richard Koszarski chronicles in

Hollywood On The Hudson, the development of Hollywood as “for all practical purposes”,

synonymous with the “American motion picture industry.” 3 New York‟s filmic charisma

partly stems from its unlimited interpretations and diverse cultural and ethnic heritage, yet

also from its towering architecture and financial prosperity. Feeding into its own mythos,

New York City is a place where “dreams come true”, where per sonal or material ambition is

attained. This is the city where Al Jolson aided the sound revolution in The Jazz Singer

(1927) , Orson Welles found tainted success in Citizen Kane (1941), where Audrey


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Hepburn‟s star persona bloomed in Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961.) Conversely, we see racial

disparity in Shadows (1959) and Do The Right Thing (1989), organised crime in The Lights of

New York (1928) and The Godfather (1972), urban decay in Midnight Cowboy (1969) and

Taxi Driver (1976.) New York‟s cinematic appeal is fuelled principally from the cultures and

classes it incorporates within its boroughs, and the multitude of narratives that can be woven.

Its candidness reflects issues and aspirations in American society, transforming it into a

potent subject of cinema.

New York is a city that tells infinite stories, and raises unlimited questions. James

Sanders proposes that there are “two cities, both called New York” - “One is a real city, an

urban agglomeration of millions. The other is a mythic city, a dream city, born of that most

pervasive of dream media, the movies.” 4 Accordingly, in this essay, I shall refer (purposely

capitalised) to “Cinematic New York”, highlighting the qualities of this distinction. For Spike

Lee, New York City‟s black neighbourhoods such as Bedford – Stuyvesant were the setting for

a number of his films (Crooklyn (1994), She’s Gotta Have It (1986), Do The Right Thing

(1989.)) Here, urban crime, race relations and poverty are prominent themes, exposing issues

in black American society unconsidered in the white mainstream. Catherine Pouzoulet notes

that Lee depicts areas of New York “that symbolises the black ghetto with its substandard

housing and record-high number of welfare recipients.” 5 Lee‟s New York is a space of

uncertain affiliations and black racial identities, counterpointing white-dominated depictions

of the city. Furthermore, consider the New York that director Martin Scorsese envisions, an

unpredictable space of gritty realism, permeated by organised crime, either as an undercurrent

( Raging Bull (1980)), or narratively dominating (Goodfellas (1990), Taxi Driver (1976)),

illuminating New York as a place marked by repugnant characters, child prostitution and

moral decay (fig.2) . Scorsese‟s own Italian-American identity is reflected in his New York,

where the Mafia are present and feared and Italian-American protagonists inhabit domestic


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spaces mirroring his own background. Leger Grindon remarks that in Raging Bull ,

Scorsese‟s “realistic treatment of ethnic New York intertwines the memories and associations

of the filmmaker‟s Italian-American experience...” 6 Scorsese‟s New York is a mix of crime

and power relations alongside domestic, familial spaces, reflecting his upbringing in an

Italian-American neighbourhood. Lee and Scorsese‟s New Yorks are drawn from their own

backgrounds, representing the ethnic city and its darker, uncertain incarnations.

New York City enjoys prolonged, continuing exposure as the setting for a number of

romantic comedy films, from the early days of Hollywood in titles such as It (1927) and

Rafter Romance (1933) up to the present day ( Friends With Kids (2012), New Years Eve

(2011.)) Gary McMahon finds a “territorial standoff” in Cinematic New York, between

romance and realism, “like a face-off between functional and ornate architecture.”7 In

romantic comedy, the “magical realism” of New York is exhibited, side-lining or removing

realist tendencies. Woody Allen‟s Annie Hall (1977) is a poignant example of the New York

romantic comedy canon. Mark Shiel describes how “Allen‟s New York is a site of personal

memory…the quintessential modern and modernist New York of the first half of the

twentieth century.” 8 New York is a place where emotions, nostalgia and city culture collide,

typified by the “romantic kiss” of Alvy and Annie, “under the Brooklyn bridge.” 9 Tamar

Jeffers McDonald writes that “it had become more common” to “note the violence of the city

than its architectural or cultural beauties.” 10 “Allen‟s films”, she continues, “can be seen as

responsible for the major change in the cinematic portrayal of New York…it has now become

the location for romance…”11 (fig.3) In turn, “…the neo-traditional romantic comedy aligns

itself with the urban milieu, films which shun the big city and suggest the supremacy instead

of the small rural backwater.” 12 This idealistic appreciation of New York continued,

strengthened by popular success of titles such as When Harry Met Sally (1989), As Good As

It Gets (1997) and You’ve Got Mail (1998), among other romantic comedies set in the city.


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Partly derived from discourse between “real” and “romantic”, New York‟s cinematic

appeal also lies in its physical presence, its towering skyline and dominating architecture

emblematic of the city‟s ascension into a hub of global economic prosperity throughout the

Twentieth Century. Writing on the skyscraper in the films of Harold Lloyd in the twenties,

Merrill Schleier remarks that it was a “metaphor for upwards mobility and capitalist

achievement.” 13 Nezar AlSayyad claims that Cinematic New York of the twenties and

thirties “was projected as a city of optimism and escapism, a city of endless romance and

capitalist triumph.” 14 This image of New York in film, as symbolic of American

exceptionalism has continued throughout cinema‟s history, alongside alternate depictions. In

Oliver Stone‟s Wall Street (1987), the skyline became emblematic of corporate greed and

eighties excess. Regardless, New York City symbolises American power and urban

modernity as one of the most filmed cities in the world. Even in its absence, it influences or

mirrors cinematic space - the futuristic, Reaganomicised “Los Angeles” in Blade Runner

(1982), the towering spaces of “Gotham” in Batman (1989) and the thriving city of

Metropolis (Superman (1978.)) New York is the quintessential cinematic city, adored

worldwide over a century of cinema.

This immense cinematic charisma that New York City accumulated could only have

heightened the disbelief on September 11th, 2001, in which two highjacked planes flew into

the World Trade Centre, killing almost three thousand people. That very day - September 11th

- has been dubbed “9/11”, malformed into cultural and social significance in memory. There

is little doubt of 9/11‟s impact, paving the way for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ushering

in a new age of global tension. Douglas Kellner observed that the first military-themed film

released in America after 9/11, Behind Enemy Lines (2002), exemplified “extreme militarism

and conservatism that followed the 9/11 attacks.” 15 Influence of 9/11 on cinema is

undeniable, with the increase of narratives dealing with terrorism and war, a “darker” range


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of action blockbusters , and historical recounting of the events themselves, such as World

Trade Centre (2006) and United 93 (2006.) 9/11 permeated public memory worldwide, and

cinema has responded.

In this study, I shall reference - and examine- images specifically from - so-called

“New York films” - that is, films containing narratives and cinematic spaces representing

New York. Primarily, my concern will be with films released after September 11th 2001,

allowing me to comprehend how the attacks affected Cinematic New York. I intend to use

other titles released before 2001 in instances where I believe that a comparison would be

valid in demonstrating the impact of the attacks. The films I choose to examine will be those

that explore the cinematic space of New York, opening up new questions and meanings to its

representation.

I shall draw on sources and writings in my study primarily from film literature.

Additionally, I intend to utilise writings from several other disciplines, including Urban

Studies, Anthropology and Psychology, to comprehend the manner in which the city

functions as a physical and sociological space. I shall infrequently reference press interviews

which commit themselves to relevant topics of discussion. The writings I consult shall deal

primarily with New York‟s place in cinema and the manner in which spaces and icons

function onscreen.

In my first chapter, I consider how destruction - and its aesthetics - is reinterpreted in

post-9/11 Cinematic New York. I demonstrate how the imagery of the attacks permeates the

cinematic consciousness of destruction, and the manner in which fictional obliteration of

New York City has been re-evaluated onscreen.


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In my second chapter, I evaluate the function and significance of the World Trade

Centre in film. In turn, I examine how the events of September 11th and the imagery of the

Twin Towers‟ destruction gained new cinematic significance and representation.

In my final chapter, I shall look to New York‟s skyline and its relationship with

cinema after the attacks. I shall consider the extent to which 9/11 has altered representations

of vertical space, compromising the skyline of New York within cinematic consciousness.

As the cinematic identity of New York is all-encompassing, so too is the impact of

the attacks. Juan A. Suarez notes that “the attack on the WTC indelibly linked the spectacle

of modernity with urban ruin and devastation.” 16 New York, a city assuredly powerful as an

economic and cultural icon, suffered a terrible blow. What does this mean for Cinematic New

York, so enshrined in film history? In “Kodak Moments, Flashbulb Memories”, Barbara

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett recounts the transformation of the city after the “catastrophe”, stating

that “…extending out from Ground Zero are the ever -larger rings that define physical and

emotional proximity to the disaster.” 17 I visited New York in November 2011, two months

after the tenth anniversary of the attacks. The impact of 9/11 remains, from the armed

coastguard escorts alongside the Staten Island ferry to the posters and stickers in gift shops

urging people to “never forget.” Several critics, including Vaheed Ramazani have

commented on the “terrible irony” 18 that the events were “cinematic” in their unimaginable

scale and impact on the city. Isabelle Freda notes that 9/11 was an event that “seemed to be

absolutely singular in its horror…and uncannily familiar”, citing similarities with “disaster

movies in recent memory.” 19 As Reza Aslan notes in his foreword to Reframing 9/11 – Film,

Popular Culture and the War On Terror – “The fact is that the events of 9/11 were truly like

a movie – the high-jacked aeroplanes, the crumbling skyscrapers, the crush of people on the

ground suddenly shrouded by a cloud of ash and rubble...” 20 (fig.4) Marc Redfield echoes

this sentiment, remarking that “the resemblance between this real life disaster and the


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cinematic spectacles of the corporate dream machine are neither accidental, nor trivial…”21

The relationship between cinema and 9/11 is heightened by the notion that Al Qaeda, as Mark

Weston claims “watched Hollywood action movies... to gain tips.” 22 Lawrence Wright also

alludes to this claim in The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and The Road To 9/11 – “At night

they would often watch Hollywood thrillers looking for tips. The movies of Arnold

Schwarzenegger were particular favourites.” 23 This fictional relationship between 9/11 and

cinema is intensified, highlighting how discourses about film and terrorism circulate.

Cinema is no stranger to reflecting social insecurities and fears. Weimar cinema,

Anton Kaes concluded, reflected the “invisible wounds” 24 after the conclusion of the First

World War. Kaes, found that trauma repeated itself in the emergence of film noir in America

in the 1940‟s – “the lost souls of Weimar cinema reappear in film noir as American soldiers

returning from war..” 25 The cycle of reflection in American cinema continues, as film

literature dedicates itself to finding trauma in a multitude of titles. So too, must we try and

comprehend exactly how the devastation of 9/11 has impacted upon Cinematic New York.

Within this study, I shall examine Cinematic New York post 9/11, and ascertain exactly how

we now define and recognise it in relation to its former self.

1

Giuliana Bruno, “City Views: The Voyage of Film Images” in The Cinematic City edited by. David B. Clarke(Routledge, USA, 1997) p.462 Bruno p.46

3 Richard Koszarski, Hollywood On The Hudson (Rutgers University Press, USA, 2008) p. 4

4 James Sanders, Celluloid Skyline (Bloomsbury, UK, 2002) p. 3

5 Catherine Pouzoulet, “Images of a Mosaic City” in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, edited by Mark. A Reid

(UK, Cambridge University Press, 1997) p.346 Leger Grindon, “Art And Genre In Raging Bull” in Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull ed. Kevin J. Hayes (UK,

Cambridge University Press,2005) p.367 Gary McMahon, “Magical Realism In New York” , “Film International”, Issue 41

8 Mark Shiel, “A Nostalgia For Modernity : New York, Los Angeles And American Cinema In The 1970‟s” in

Screening The City eds. Mark Shiel and Tony Fitzmaurice (UK, Verso, 2003) p.1689 Shiel, p.168

10

Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Romantic Comedy : Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre (USA, Wallflower Press, 2007) p.8911

McDonald p. 89


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12 McDonald p. 89

13 Merrill Schleier, Skyscraper Cinema : Architecture And Gender In American Film (USA, University Of

Minnesota Press, 2009) p.3

14 Nezar AlSayyad, Cinematic Urbanism (UK, Routledge,2006) p. 17115

Douglas Kellner, Cinema Wars (USA, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) p. 2416

Juan Suarez, “City Films, Modern Spatiality and the end of the World Trade Centre” in Film and television

after 9/11, ed. Wheeler Winston Dixon (SIU Press, USA, 2004) p.19

17 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “Kodak moments, Flashbulb memories : Reflections on 9/11” , “The Drama

Review” (2003) Volume: 47, Issue: 1, p. 1118

Vaheed Ramazani, “September 11: Masculinity, Justice, and the Politics of Empathy” , in “Comparative

Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East” (2001) 21(1-2)p. 11919

Isabelle Freda, “Survivors In The West Wing” in Film and Television after 9/11, ed. Wheeler Winston Dixon

(SIU Press, USA, 2004) p.22820

Reza Aslan, “Foreword” in Reframing 9/11: Film, Popular Culture And The "War On Terror"

eds. Jeff Birkenstein, Anna Froula, Karen Randell (USA, Continuum, 2010) p. XII21 Marc Redfield, The Rhetoric Of Terror : Reflections On 9/11 And The War On Terror (USA, Fordham

University, 2009) p.2822

Mark Weston, Prophets And Princes : Saudi Arabia From Muhammad To The Present (USA, John Wiley and

sons, 2008) p.25823

Lawrence Wright, “Policy”, Volume 23 (USA, Centre For Independent Studies, 2007) p. 5924

Anton Kaes, Shell Shock Cinema : Weimar Culture And The Wounds Of War (USA, Princeton University

Press,2009) p. 21625

Kaes p. 214


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Chapter One – Disaster, Memory and the Silver Screen.

As an instance in modern history which dealt an “unforgettable urban wound” 1, how

do we perceive the impact of this real-world event on the fictional sphere of Cinematic New

York? One avenue is to consider the imagery that 9/11 itself burned into the consciousness of

the American and international public. (fig.5) An explosion as a plane impacts with a

building. Smoke and fire rising from the crippled structure, people jumping or falling to their

deaths, walking wounded caked in dust and debris. The upsetting images that dominated the

media during the attacks remain tender. In 2012, over a decade later, the AMC television

show Mad Men met with criticism in “The New York Times” for a poster evoking visual

parallels with Richard Drew's image of “the falling man”, depicting a worker falling from the

towers. 2 The sensitivity that such imagery evokes strengthens the notion of 9/11 as

embedded in the consciousness of the American public.

So much has changed so rapidly. Historically, Cinematic New York is no stranger to

images of destruction or obliteration, a city that has been destroyed frequently onscreen. This

culminates in the “terrible irony” that Vaheed Ramazani refers to, as the images of demolition,

devastation and termination around New York City that American audiences have enjoyed

from the days of King Kong (1933), Escape From New York (1981) and Independence Day

(1996) are re-appropriated for their more sinister implications. 3 Berenike Jung notes that “the

post-9/11 catch phrase - „it was just like in the movies!‟ - expressed our shock that we

understood the language of 9/11 as our own.” 4 On his reaction to the attacks, Steven

Schneider recounted that - “I obsessively sought out visual reconfirmation that what I was

witnessing was not one of the most spectacular special effects ever conceived and recorded on

camera but far and away the deadliest and most destructive terrorist attack on American soil


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in this country‟s long history.” 5 Accumulating a penchant for destruction since early cinema,

the stark reality of the attack was an unfortunate moment in which the absurd world of

Cinematic New York infringed upon our own.

Observe a scene from Michael Bay's Armageddon (1998), released three years before

the attacks, in which New York is struck by a meteor shower. The action is pervaded by

explosions, ripping through the streets, people and buildings. Crowds flee, trying to avoid the

devastation. Sadistic pleasures are evoked, witnessing the reaction of the crowds, the faces

contorted, the panicked, hysterical gestures and dramatic, relentless screaming that so often

errs on the side of pantomime. (fig.6) In one of the most unfortunate parallels with 9/11, the

Chrysler Building is blown in half, spewing debris and falling bodies, one which impacts with

a car below. In the final sequence, New York‟s buildings, including the Twin Towers,

smoulder and burn in an aerial shot. In Independence Day (1996), alien spacecraft lay waste

to New York. People are trapped as a wall of fire rushes towards them, wiping away

everything in its path. There is a sense of perpetual helplessness, vast crowds trapped in the

overpopulated streets, ineffectual, and unable to flee. The faceless masses of extras are

obliterated in front of our eyes, burned into nothing. Once, we revelled in this spectacle, with

but the slightest consideration of prospect.

The aesthetics of destruction - unbridled carnage and chaos on the streets of New

York- although almost comical in the excess of these examples, now evokes unfortunate

parallels with that day. One wonders how audiences now would react to these images, given

the unavoidable similarities with 9/11. September 11th conceived its own imagery, which

interweaves and overlaps with cinema. As previously stated, the images associated around

9/11 can themselves be perceived as “cinematic”, given the familiarity of film images of

destruction that permeated public consciousness. One might imagine that, after 9/11,

destruction of Cinematic New York might become taboo, rejected by audiences still affected


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by the disaster. Yet annihilation has continued - audiences still embrace images of chaos in

New York. In “The Boston Globe”, Max Page heralded the arrival of King Kong (2005),

asserting that “…for nearly two centuries, American culture has been obsessed with

fantasizing about the destruction of New York...rather than bemoan the degradation of our

insensitive culture, we should celebrate these fantasies.” 6 Cinematic New York‟s propensity

for destruction has not been dampened after 2001. In his essay “Reel Terror Post 9/11”,

Jonathan Markovitz states that “…for audience members comparing these images to those

that flickered across their television screens on September 11, suspension of disbelief has

become impossible, as the artifice of cinematic terror is now apparent in dramatically new

ways.” 7 We must examine these new images of destruction, and comprehend exactly how

9/11 affected their presentation and content.

In “Our World Trade Centre” , Sharon Zukin writes on her feelings that people on the

subway, “whom I used to see crowding through the turnstiles are gone...” 8 Disaster has

become personal and comprehensible. In Cloverfield (2008), a “found footage” narrative

recounts the events of a giant monster attacking New York City, following the experiences of

a group of friends as they attempt to survive. Douglas Kellner writes that” ...playing on post-

9/11 fears, the film uses 9/11 imagery of falling skyscrapers, panic in the streets, dust and

blood-soaked mobs running from the disaster, and general chaos portending social collapse.” 9

The film‟s presentation through “shaky cam”, as part of the found footage narrative

personalises the nature of the disaster we witness, bringing it into unnerving proximity.

Through the limitations of an isolated point of view, that of the single camera following the

protagonists, we are presented with an unstable, unreliable narrative of events. We can

perceive parallels with amateur footage taken of 9/11, of the videos circulated and played

repeatedly on news reports and television screens in the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

The nature of the films presentation ultimately prevents the glorification or embellishment of

images of violence and destruction. The uncertain viewpoint, the incomprehensible camera


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movements and jarring visual and aural effects ground our perspective, allowing us to see

through the eyes of the same terrified crowds that a more traditional film might view from

above. Disaster is miniaturised, given new, personal qualities that speak to the audience

through their emotional and visual proximity. Just as 9/11 was a “shared” disaster, a sense of

loss that enveloped the world, so too have these understandings of destruction permeated

Cloverfield’s narrative, giving us a new, post-9/11 perspective on obliteration.

The personalisation of disaster continues in Zack Snyder‟s Watchmen (2009), in which

a supernatural bomb destroys New York City. In “Adapting Watchmen After 9/11”, Bob

Rehak perceives the way in which the destruction of New York was altered from the original

source material, a 1986 graphic novel. In the original sequence, New York is obliterated by a

psychic shock wave, killing half its population instantly. Rehak supposes that “…for all its

perverse inventiveness...the original ending may have been rejected because it came too close

to actual events, albeit in metaphorical form.” 10 Like the “lethal psychic shock wave, so did

the emotional effects of the terrorist attacks ripple outward..” to “form of a post-9/11 mindset

notable for its regressive conflation of masculinity and security.” 11 The psychological

destruction of 9/11 is as frightening as its physical impact, if not more so.

In the films‟ re-imagined destruction of Cinematic New York, we again bear witness

to a eschewing of the sensationalism of excessive chaos. Impending destruction is

foreshadowed by its effects on mundane, everyday objects. A watch stops, a briefcase opens,

spilling cards and papers to the ground, and a pile of newspapers fly into the air. Of

importance is the distinct lack of screaming crowds, or vast amounts of extras that have

typified cinematic annihilation. We are introduced, ever so briefly, to a group of minor

characters, a teenager, an old newspaper seller and a worker, relatable in their number. As the

explosion forms, we witness their shocked expressions, as they gaze in horror at the

unimaginable scale of disaster unfolding in front of them. Wide shots of the explosion are


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intercut with this more personalised sequence, creating a dichotomy between the city at the

wrath of the destruction, and the experiences of the characters on the ground. As the explosion

races towards these characters, there is no time to scream, panic or flee. Instead, the old man

and the teenager cling to each other, as they are lifted up and dissipate. The absence of bodies

crowding the image, with only a few extras dotted across the screen, brings the nature of the

disaster into closer proximity. The scene‟s highly stylised presentation of destruction as brief

brings it to an understandable, personal level of comprehension, echoing the manner in which

9/11 itself, though but the events of a day, have impacted far into the future.

Imagery of 9/11 and the new imagery of personalised destruction is found in a key

sequence of Stephen Spielberg‟s War Of The Worlds (2005), in which protagonist Ray first

comes into contact with the destructive antagonists of the film. With the immediate

emergence of an alien craft from the ground, crowds stand, transfixed. (fig. 8) Spielberg

utilises excessive visual coverage of the people around the scene, of confused faces and

apprehension, building dread. Ray is within the crowd, part of it, just as captivated in the

horrific gaze of the alien in front of them. This is integral when considering destruction in

films such as Armageddon and Independence Day, in which obliteration of the city and

crowds is often spatially distanced from the protagonist. As the alien attacks, firing its deathly

beam as the crowd scatter, Ray becomes part of them, dodging the rays, as people dissipate

into dust. The scene becomes uncomfortable and unnerving, given Spielberg‟s tactics of

focusing on individuals in the mob. At times the camera loses sight of Ray completely, as the

unfortunate victims are struck by the rays. In one extended close up, the camera tracks a

woman as she runs down the street, an expression of pure despair on her face. We see the

light of the ray get ever closer, before she collapses into dust. The images are distressing,

given the emotional proximity of the crowd. Elias Canetti writes that crowds are “everywhere,

spontaneous”, a desire to “seize everyone within reach” into “one and the same body.” 12

Resurrecting the individual within the crowd undermines its invincibility and brings about


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realisation of our own mortality. They are no longer the faceless extras whose obliteration

brings amusement – they are us. As Ray continues his escape, he dashes past cars and shops

on the high street. The staples of urban domestic everyday familiarity and the impossibilities

of destruction are brought together, in a manner which evokes 9/11 duality. Crucially, when

Ray returns home, he discovers much to his horror, that he is caked in the dusty remains of

the dissipated victims. Marita Sturken writes that “the dust of the collapse of the World Trade

Centre acquired many meanings in the months after September 11.” 13 Ray, covered in the

dust, evokes visual connections to the survivors of the attacks in the news reports – thus he is

morbidly coupled to the dead victims‟ deathly existence and past presence in distinct parallel

to the aftermath of 9/11. Antoine De Baecque writes that when Ray looks at himself in the

mirror, “a World Trade Centre survivor” stares back - “from that moment on”, the film is

“contaminated by the painful memory of the attacks.” 14 In a later sequence, Ray and his

family drive past crowds of dislocated survivors, some brandishing posters and notice boards

looking for family members and friends, another piece of imagery intrinsically connected to

9/11‟s legacy of loss and displacement. Spielberg brings the imagery of 9/11 alongside his

depictions of destruction, heightening the emotional intensity and horrific familiarity of what

we witness. Along with Watchmen, War of the Worlds treats “the crowd” no longer as a

desensitised flock of bodies that are obliterated for our amusement.

Significantly, Marjorie Garber chooses the 9/11 attacks as her introductory example of

an event that divided opinions on the nature of “human nature”, of the motivations behind

“cultural, social, political and moral actions.” 15 The “cinematic” 9/11 has created a strong

distaste for glamorised destruction in Cinematic New York – gladiatorial-like, we once

welcomed the fictional suffering and destruction that thrived in Manhattan. Cinematic New

York‟s destruction is now far more complex, striving to retain an element of humanism – and

most crucially – psychologically reclaim “human nature” from the pilots of the doomed

planes.


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In Remembering, Repeating and Working Through, Lucian Freud posited that a

person “yields to the compulsion to repeat, which now replaces the impulsion to remember.”

16 In these new images of destruction, repetition of 9/11, rather than remembrance, has

become the new essence of disaster in Cinematic New York. In turn, disaster in New York

City has become less preoccupied with depersonalised, sadistic spectacle, and more with

comprehendible devastation in the shadow of 9/11.

1 Jane Schneider, Isa Susser, Wounded Cities : Destruction And Reconstruction In A Globalised World (USA,

Berg, 2003) p. 2

2

David W. Dunlap, “A Falling Man, And Memories of 9/11”, “New York Times”, February 29, 2012.3 Vaheed Ramazani, “September 11: Masculinity, Justice, and the Politics of Empathy” in “Comparative Studies

of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East” , Volume 21, Number 1&2, 2001, p. 119

4 Berenike Jung, Narrating Violence In Post 9/11 Action Cinema (Springer, Germany, 2010) p. 13

5 Steven J. Schneider, “Architectural Nostalgia” in Film And Television After 9/11 ed. Wheeler Winston Dixon

(Southern Illinois University, USA, 2004) p.32

6 Max Page, “Welcome Back King Kong” in “The Boston Globe” , December 15 2005.

7 Jonathan Markovitz, “Reel Terror Post 9/11” in Film And Television After 9/11 ed. Wheeler Winston Dixon

(Southern Illinois University, USA, 2004) p. 201

8 Sharon Zukin, “Our World Trade Centre” in After The World Trade Centre, eds. Sharon Zukin, Michael Sorkin

(Routledge, USA, 2002) p. 13

9 Douglas Kellner, Cinema Wars (Wiley-Blackwell, UK, 2010) p. 125

10 Bob Rehak, “Adapting Watchmen After 9/11” in “Cinema Journal” , vol. 51, no.1 Fall 2011 p. 157

11 Rehak p.158

12 Elias Canetti, Crowds And Power (USA, Continuum, 1973) p.16

13

Marita Sturken, “The Aesthetics Of Absence” in “American Ethnologist” vol.31 no.3 p.31214

Antoine De Baecque, Camera History : The Century In Cinema (Columbia University Press, USA, 2011)

p.361

15 Marjorie Garber, A Manifesto For Literary Studies (USA, University Of Washington Press, 2003) p. 16

16 Lucian Freud, “Remembering, Repeating And Working Through” in The Standard Edition of the Complete

Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud , Lucien Freud. (Random House, UK, 2001) p. 151


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Chapter Two – Memory, Twin Towers, Cinematic Constructs

Destruction continues to thrive in Cinematic New York, but what of disaster‟s legacy? The

site of the attacks has become a symbolic space in both physical and representational terms.

“Ground Zero” now remains of what was once - for a brief time in the early 1970s- the tallest

building in the world, and a staple piece of the iconography of New York. James Henderson

once described the towers as “the most visible edifice that relates to the global economy, and

of course capitalism ... the most distinct and most notable.” 1 Stanley Corkin additionally

writes that it was “”a symbol of New York and the eminence of the financial capital in the

United States.” 2 The destruction of the towers is symbolic, not just of an attack on the power

of the United States, but also the global economy – its impact highlights the manner in which

two are fatefully entwined. One of the most pertinent questions regarding the loss of the

World Trade Centre within the cinematic and actual cities lies in precisely how to approach

the memory-image of the Twin Towers and of 9/11.

Just as real-life questions surrounding the rebuilding of the World Trade Centre

circulated, so too did Cinematic New York need to find answers about the sudden absence of

the towers. In the immediate wake of 9/11, Quay and Damico note that “the attacks left

Hollywood in uncharted territory with no precedent for how to make decisions.” 3 One of the

early questions was precisely what to do with the pre-existing footage of the Twin Towers in

a number of upcoming features and future releases. A frequent response was to simply

remove any visual references to the World Trade Centre. The Twin Towers were edited out of

titles including Serendipity (2001) Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) and Zoolander (2001), whilst

the final battle of Men in Black II (2002) was re-shot to shift action to the Chrysler building.


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Steven Schneider recounts that the removals “resulted in a fairly broad, fairly

vehement critical backlash” that “received a measure of support from audiences in

Manhattan.” 4 Interestingly, the significance of the Twin Towers before 9/11 is by no means

absolute. Marshall Berman wrote that the complex was “remarkably unfriendly to real

people”, “purposely isolated from the downtown street system.” 5 Sharon Zukin adds that

“Skyscrapers have always been built for love of money, not for permanence or public purpose

or art. No-one could confuse the World Trade Centre with Palazzo Pubblico.” 6 The

displeasure of Manhattan audiences at the sudden removal of the towers highlights the manner

in which they now operate at a level above the material in the wake of their destruction, re-

envisioned as a symbol of nationhood and identity. In the years after the loss of the World

Trade Centre, Cinematic New York no longer has the towers, reflecting the contemporary

city, as it continues to serve as a mirror image of reality. Whilst this has been accepted

without cr iticism, the furore around the towers‟ removal directly after 9/11 can be seen to

stem from the fact that the images of the towers were intrinsically present in the footage of

films that were shot before the attacks. Removing them has thus been seen as a gross violation

of the past, and of the ontology of the cinematic image.

The World Trade Centre has itself become sacred, and any attempts at “rewriting”

what was once there - like the doctoring of photographs in Stalinist Russia, or the airbrushing

of models in magazines – even in “sensitivity” - has summarily only served to disrupt

photographic ontological power. Whatever their meaning may have held for the world before

their destruction, the Twin Towers have been transformed into a martyr-like entity, a symbol

of both past and present New York in their memory and absence.

In particular circles of American politics, the “absence” of the image of the towers

pervades a nervous psyche as a “victory” for Al Qaeda, and a symbolic defeat of both New

York and American values. City Journal , published by the conservative Manhattan Institute,


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was adamant that “part of the U.S. triumph over its attackers should be the swift rebuilding of

the site where the massacre occurred, constructing something even prouder and more splendid

than the vanished Twin Towers.” 7 The city‟s architecture and structure contributes to an

integral understanding of the psyche of its inhabitants. James Sanders makes a historical

reference to the demolition of Pennsylvania Station in 1963, which - although initially

“accepted with hardly a murmur” - soon created a “magnitude of loss”, and challenged

“automatic assumption that change was good.” 8 The sense of removal, and of a changing,

unfamiliar city, Sanders finds, was summarily explored in film. So too, has Cinematic New

York moved to come to terms with the damage it has suffered.

Before 2001, the towers infrequently enjoyed exposure in film, though considerably

less than the cinematically iconic Empire State Building. In the first remake of King Kong

(1976), the eponymous monster no longer scales the Empire State Building, but the south

tower of the World Trade Centre. The Empire State Building had been “dethroned as the

tallest building in the world” by the towers, which served as a newer, exciting obstacle for

Kong to scale. 9 In The Wiz (1978), a cult Blaxsploitation version of The Wizard of Oz re-

imagined in New York, the World Trade Centre served as the “real” counterpart to the

fictional “Emerald City” of the older film. Another musical, Godspell (1973), featured a

musical number on the top of one of the towers while they were still being completed. The

relative lack of cinematic attention the complex received before 9/11 in comparison to the

Empire State Building highlights the manner in which its presence was based on an economic

- rather than cultural - understanding.

Yet after destruction, the World Trade Centre has been resurrected onscreen. Oliver

Stone‟s World Trade Centre (2006), alongside United 93 (2006), was one of the earliest

feature films to dramatise the events surrounding the attacks. Its narrative concerned the

fictional recreation of the plight of a group of New York Port Authority police officers, buried


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under the rubble of the stricken buildings. World Trade Centre’ s view of the events is not

through the omniscient, privileged view of the invisible spectator. It is from the streets, and

the office buildings, from the spaces that surrounded - and were affected by – 9/11. The

moment of the actual attack is not seen, but is symbolically presented, as the shadow of a

plane rushes briefly over downtown New York, causing one of the characters to look up in

alarm, as the sound is muted, just for an instant. The next shot, for just a few seconds, is of the

Twin Towers, still intact, just moments before impact. The attack is not seen, but it is felt . In

the police station, the building sways ever so slightly, and a low, distant boom is heard. The

towers (of course, not the true towers, but a digital representation) are seen again,

smouldering from the attack, paper and fire spewing from the buildings. Shot from below,

they are no longer part of the skyline that defined them, but isolated, magnified in front of the

lens. So much of the iconic imagery surrounding the Twin Towers, from news reports and

photographs, frames the towers against the New York skyline, as a wound in the entire urban

structure. Jean Epstein once wrote on the close up as the “soul of cinema”, magnification of

the human face affecting us with “extraordinary intensity.” 10 This is an urban close-up, the

towers magnified for closer understanding, isolated from the body of the city. (fig.9) With

Stone‟s close up of the recreated towers, they are removed from the iconic landscape that

defined them, the intensity and emptiness of the destruction more apparent, their symbolism

stripped away. Aside from these select shots, the towers themselves remain largely absent

from the images of the film, although the shock of their destruction is apparent. The absence

of the towers highlights the manner in which their destruction has rendered them symbolic,

out of sight.

In the aftermath of their destruction, the World Trade Centre permeated popular

consciousness as a symbol of something lost, synonymous with grief and ruin. “9/11” itself is

no longer an event grounded in reality, but something that can be seen to have transcended

and entered into popular cultural narrative. In the climax of 2010 romantic drama film,


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Remember Me, main male love interest Tyler gazes out of the window of the North Tower.

We are informed, from the writing of a secondary character, Caroline, that the date is

September 11th, 2001. The camera pans out, an aerial shot revealing the Twin Towers, as a

cacophony of voices and chatter fills the screen, before a sharp cut to black brings silence.

Remember Me’s positioning of 9/11 as an event which will ultimately bring the conclusion of

the love story we have been observing personalises the tragedy, bringing together the scale of

destruction, and the lives of the characters. Notably, this final shot of the recreated towers is

framed at an angle against the East River of New York, shunning its traditional position as

part of the skyline. The stark contrast of the grey towers against the blue water and sky,

largely empty save for the distant islands and horizon, gives the uncanny impression that the

towers are ripped from the city and their traditional environment, the movement of the camera

creating the illusion that they are floating away from us. (fig.10) The World Trade Centre

becomes a symbolic cinematic space where tragedy, personal life and the city intertwine, a

metaphor of loss.

After the attacks, Ground Zero too, has found instances of cinematic appropriation. In

25th Hour (2002), Lauren Blumenfeld writes that director Spike Lee forces us to “confront

the complexity of post-9/11 New York.” 11 In one visceral scene, the characters of Frank and

Jake argue over the future of the protagonist Monty, discussing his “three choices” before

going to jail for dealing drugs. The scene‟s raw context stems from the fact that the entire

conversation is framed against a window overlooking Ground Zero, just one year after the

attacks. The site becomes an emotional intensifier, heightened by the use of sombre Arabic-

style music, heightening the spatial relationship between Ground Zero, and the machinations

of an “other”. The two emotional pains - that of the character of Jake, who realises how futile

his friend‟s situation is, and pain in the aftermath of 9/11, are married. As Jake looks to the

window, horror dawning about the Monty‟s depressing future; his gaze becomes transfixed

with the cleanup operation below. A lone American flag waves in the wind, surrounded by the


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empty, grey space and the machinery. Destroyed structures stand alone, the intensity of the

attacks affecting us by their proximity. A crane piles a piece of debris into a truck, and

workers scrape away at the ground under their feet. (fig.11) Two narratives – non-fictional

and forgettable, universal and personal are brought together, as Lee evokes the emotional

devastation of 9/11 through his characters.

On film, the World Trade Centre is no longer a victim of the events of 9/11. It has

become emblematic of the pain and emotional loss that accompanied the attacks, and a stark

reminder of both the physical and ideological change that followed in its wake. Marita

Sturken writes that “virtually every traumatic event of 20th Century US history, from Pearl

Harbour to the Vietnam War, has been characterised as the moment at which innocence was

lost.” 12 The World Trade Centre stands as the latest addition to the iconic images throughout

US history that typify this cycle, and that have been appropriated time and time again by

cinema.

1 James Henderson in “Professors debate „symbolic‟ effect of terrorism”, Joseph Keillor, “The Lariat”,

September 12th

2001, available at http://www.baylor.edu/lariat/news.php?action=story&story=17179 modified

12/11/2001, accessed 14/04/20122 Stanley Corkin, Starring New York (UK, Oxford University Press, 2011) p.108

3 Sara Quay, Amy Damico, September 11 In Popular Culture (ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010) p.175

4 Steven J. Schneider, “Architectural Nostalgia” in Film And Television After 9/11 ed. Wheeler Winston Dixon

(Southern Illinois University, USA, 2004) p.355 Marshall Berman, “When Bad Buildings Happen To Good People” in After The World Trade Centre

(Routledge, USA, 2002) p. 76 Sharon Zukin, “Our World Trade Centre” in After The World Trade Centre, eds. Sharon Zukin, Michael

Sorkin (Routledge, USA, 2002) p.157 “What Should Rise From The Ashes?” in “City Journal”, Manhattan Institute, available online at

http://www.city-journal.org/html/11_4_what_should_rise.html, accessed 28/03/20128 James Sanders, Celluloid Skyline (Bloomsbury, UK, 2002) p. 404

9 George Douglas, Skyscrapers : A Social History Of The Very Tall Building In America (McFarland, USA,2004)

p.15910

Jean Epstein, “Magnification”, “October” Vol. 3, (Spring, 1977) p. 9 11

Laura Blumenfeld, 25th

Hour : “A Complex Reflection In The Face Of Smoke And Mirrors” , “Mercer” ,2004, available at http://www.nyu.edu/cas/ewp/blumenfeldhourd01.pdf

12

Marita Sturken, “The Aesthetics Of Absence” , in “American Ethnologist” vol.31 no.3 p.311


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Chapter Three – Cinematic Skyline, Vertical Uncertainty

The World Trade Centre‟s destruction raises new questions for the representations of the

skyline that it leaves behind in its absence. Since completion in the 1970s, the pre 9/11 World

Trade Centre forged its own identity within New York, as a pinnacle of the skyline. Sharon

Zukin writes that “the Twin Towers made their great impression by sheer arrogance. They

took over the skyline, staking their claim not only as an iconic image of New York but as the

iconic image of what a modern city should aspire to be: the biggest, the mightiest, the

imperial centre.” 1 Additionally, Marita Sturken asserts that “the presence of the Twin

Towers over lower Manhattan was overpowering. It was often remarked that they had created

such a discrepancy in scale in relation to the other buildings in lower Manhattan that their

construction had permanently altered the New York skyline.” 2 Carol M. Highsmith writes

that “the loss of the Twin Towers leaves such a shocking void in the New York city skyline

and psyche.” 3

New York City is a symbol, not just of the wealth and power of the modern

metropolis, but of the strength and prowess of the American state. David M. Scobey writes

that “...beginning in the early 1850s”, “New York and its environment were invested with

meaning as a figure or microcosm for the nation - “a symbol, an intensification of the

country.” 4 Undoubtedly, the most visually compelling and quintessentially iconic element of

the city is the skyline, described by James Sanders as “one of the world‟s most unmistakable

icons, thanks in large part to films themselves : each new opening shot trades on - and

reinforces the skyline‟s pre-existing fame.” 5 The skyline has been capitalised on since the

earliest days of cinema, as Sanders chronicles, from its appearance in early aerial shots in

Broadway Melody (1929), to the “awe-inspiring” shot of the Manhattan skyline in Queens


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Logic (1991), among countless more examples past and present. Additionally, “the New York

skyline remains an abiding sym bol of American wealth and power.” 6 In the wake of 9/11, and

the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the skyline has itself been “irrevocably altered” 7

by the absence of the Twin Towers that made up part of its iconic imagery for over two

decades.

Juan A Suarez highlights two forms of “modernity” that “clashed dramatically” during

the World Trade Centre‟s construction in the 1970‟s, mirroring the new heightened tensions

in the aftermath of 9/11.One, he describes as “skyscraper modernity”, that typified an

“organised, objective, legible, engineered society.” 8 The World Trade Centre, he considers,

was “the culmination of this utopia and its contradictions.” 9 In turn, there is the “other”

modernity – a “fractal, street based hybrid, lived on intensely personal and quotidian terms.”

10 Stanley Corkin writes that landmarks in 1970‟s New York that once “symbolised physical

and moral decay” were transformed under this “skyscraper modernity” dictum into a

“sanitised” area, losing “the idlers, the homeless, the sex workers” that had been so prominent

in films such as Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Taxi Driver (1976.) 11 The 21st century New

York skyline is posited as an iconic symbol of this new post-modernity, a towering mass of

skyscrapers and high rise buildings. James Sanders writes on the history of the skyline, the

manner in which “the overscaled product of technology and real estate” had, “through a kind

of urban grace”, become “charged with a sense of human possibility.” 12 The skyline is the

soul of Cinematic New York, a commodity upon which its film persona has been bought and

sold internationally throughout the decades. (fig.12) The wound it sustained in 2001 has

forced us to consider the strength of so-called”skyscraper modernity”, and the traditional

understandings of vertical power.

The World Trade Centre‟s destruction has raised questions and tensions about the

skyline and of the invincibility of “skyscraper modernity.” As Douglas Tallack summarises,


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9/11 “challenged the visual imagination in a more dramatic way than the construction of the

skyline”, the horrific imagery undermining its cherished, inherently cinematic image. 13 We

find unease in the cinematic presentation of the skyscraper in post-9/11 Cinematic New York.

“Who will ever again feel safe and comfortable working 110 storeys above the ground? Or

sixty storeys? Or even twenty-seven?” James Howard Kunstler questioned in his article “The

End of Tall Buildings.” 14 He supposed that the attacks would bring about a “sobering

reassessment of America's (and the world's) infatuation with skyscrapers.” 15 Indeed, a new

distrust of the skyscraper now permeates our understanding of Cinematic New York‟s

skyline.

In a scene from popular blockbuster Spiderman 3 (2007), the character of Gwen Stacy

is framed against the New York skyline as she poses for a photo shoot inside a skyscraper,

alongside other models. The strong classical associations with the superstructure, that of

glamour, affluence and fame are evoked, as a simpering photographer snaps away with his

camera. In The Practice of Everyday Life, Michel De Curteau wrote on the view from the

World Trade Centre - “looking down like a god”; it satisfied a “lust to be a viewpoint and

nothing more.” 16 Against the skyline, Gwen Stacey is elevated above the spectators below,

akin to “a series of environments that by their very nature looked both up and down” such as

“Greta Garbo‟s penthouse in Susan Lenox : Her Fall And Rise (1931.)” 17 It is an image of

ascendance and power that is short lived. The photographer‟s (and audience‟s) view of the

New York skyline is obscured by an out-of-control crane that smashes into the side of the

building. 9/11 imagery is evoked, as pieces crash into the ground, impacting with the concrete

below, causing chaos as crowds scatter. The skyscraper is deconstructed as a space of terror,

walls ripped away to reveal the outside and the terrifying drop to the ground, the safety of

indoor space violated. Gwen finds herself hanging over the edge of the building - losing her

grip; she plummets to the ground as the crowd watch on. (fig.13) The skyline that she once

held classical dominion over has now become monstrous. The prospects of success and


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prestige that the high rise offered have now been replaced with the threat of isolation from the

security of the ground, supplemented by vertigo-esque notions of urban destruction. In the

wake of 9/11, the dichotomy of the skyscraper, as a place of affluence and security, or as

unstable and frightening, is more apparent.

Skyscraper modernity‟s traditional notion of vertical prowess and economic power has

been compromised with an air of uncertainty. The contrast between “skyscraper modernity”

and the safety of the street is particularly striking in 2011 drama film Extremely Loud and

Incredibly Close, which is narratively concerned with the attacks. Oskar, the young son of a

9/11 victim, comes to terms with the loss of his father, whilst engaging in a treasure hunt

across the city as a form of emotional reconciliation. The undermining of vertical space

begins with the opening images of the film, depicting a body falling in slow motion,

emblematic of the “falling man” image. Vertical spaces of the same “skyscraper modernity”

that Suarez describes are emblematic of an unseen trauma in a film that prides itself on

exploring the variety of grounded spaces within New York. Oskar‟s quest takes him along

the Manhattan Bridge, under bridges with homeless people, into churches, buses, bars and

docks among other locations, but also through the personal, domestic spaces of the characters

he encounters. When Oskar does enter a high-rise office, the establishing shot is not a

classical view from above, but rather of him entering and climbing the stairs of the building

from street level, seen through glass windows. The film is devoid of classical aerial

establishing shots of New York, instead creating a street-level space of horizontal exploration.

Clusters of Manhattan skyscrapers are seen in instances, far in the distance, geographically

disconnected with Oskar. The emotional climax of the narrative begins in the high-rise office

that Oskar visits, synonymous with a form of reconciliation with vertical spaces that have

become monstrous after 9/11. The effect of these uses of space is a film that dissociates the

skyline as an out of sight “other”, emblematically representative of what Oskar childishly

refers to as “the worst day” - the pain of 9/11.


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In The Adjustment Bureau (2011), vertical spaces are foreboding and ominous, where

the titular antagonists manipulate the world of the protagonist below. Writing on Skyscraper

Souls (1932), Merrill Schleier noted that the “view from above both suggests and omniscient

spectator who evaluates the exterior architecture and foreshadows the downward spiral or

plummeting of its inhabitant‟s fortunes.” 18 The Adjustment Bureau‟s position in the city,

placed within the skyscraper, and separated from the world below, evokes classical themes of

power. To the supernatural members of the bureau, the geography of the city is miniaturised,

undermined - the antagonists are able to simply move from one area to another in the blink of

an eye, opening doors in one location and emerging in another. Their associations with the

skyscraper posit them as separated or isolated from the world around them, and the urban

spaces of familiarity become warped and undermined through their power. The protagonist,

David also works and operates in a skyscraper, as a congressman and businessman, although

his roots in New York and his desire to associate with the city‟s inhabitants present him as

trapped between the streets and the superstructure. The elevated places of power he inhabits

are compromised by his desire to relate with - and understand - the people on the ground,

attending nightclubs in warehouses, coffee shops in the street, running through downtown

Manhattan, and travelling by bus. Narratively, this behaviour is abhorred by the antagonists,

who see him as wasting his potential as a presidential candidate. In a television interview with

New York broadcaster NY1, the film‟s star Matt Damon extolled the film as a “love letter to

New York”, and the film capitalises on its setting and supernatural elements in order to

transport us through a number of different locations, from the Statue Of Liberty to the Yankee

Stadium amongst many more, more “local” areas, such as the New York water taxi, and

Madison Square Park. 19 Real life locations, such as the Cedar Lake dance studio, are depicted

and referenced against fictional spaces such as the bureau‟s headquarters. The effect of this is

that we are presented with a Cinematic New York that is less grounded in the archetypal, pre-

9/11 filmic locations of other works of cinema, re-defining and introducing new urban spaces


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to the audience. Contrasted against the Adjustment Bureau, operating in classical vertical

spaces such as the skyscraper, we see a new tension between a pre-9/11 understanding of

Cinematic New York, and a post-2001 version which moves away from these traditional

spaces, and into new territory.

The dichotomy between high and low spaces is just as present, but inverted in The

Dark Knight (2008), where vertical spaces serve primarily as the space occupied by Bruce

Wayne/Batman. (fig.15) He occupies the vertical as part of his millionaire high-rise lifestyle

and his crime fighting activities, whilst the streets below, abandoned warehouses, crime dens,

car parks and docks are the places where evil, typified by the Joker, reside. The intensified

divide between high and low has become ever-present after 9/11 in Cinematic New York; The

Manchurian Candidate (2004), The Bourne Identity (2008) and Die Hard 4.0 (2007) are just a

few examples of films whose spaces demonstrate this new divide. Other films, such as

Precious (2009) and Man Push Cart (2006) lose focus of vertical spaces entirely, in favour of

horizontal, street based representations, eschewing the aesthetics of “skyscraper modernity.”

Marshall Berman writes that the Twin Towers were “purposely isolated from the

downtown street system, and designed to fit Le Corbusier‟s dictum “We must kill the street.”

20 In the aftermath of their destruction, we are witnessing a reverse of this principle onscreen,

as the street is re-explored in cinema, whilst vertical spaces such as the superstructure face

uncertain r epresentation. Cinematic New York‟s divide, between the society of the

skyscraper and the society of the street, has become ever more apparent in the wake of the

attacks. Thus the skyscraper is more distant and foreboding than ever before, a place of power

and influence, but at the price of familiarity and urban kinship. There is little doubt that 9/11

has ultimately altered the New York skyline, both cinematically and physically. The loss of

the World Trade Centre has cast a shadow of uncertainty over what once served as iconic

representations of American idealism, ushering in a re-evaluation of the superstructure as a


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mass of contradictions. It seems, that in the aftermath of the attacks, and with the loss of the

Twin Towers, the privileged, cinematically cherished space of the city from above has been

re-accompanied by a safer perspective - that of looking up from below.

1 Sharon Zukin, “Our World Trade Centre” in After The World Trade Centre, eds. Sharon Zukin, Michael

Sorkin (Routledge, USA, 2002) p.132 Marita Sturken, “The Aesthetics Of Absence” in “American Ethnologist” vol.31 no.3 p. 319

3 Carol Highsmith, World Trade Centre : Tribute And Remembrance (Crescent Books, USA, 2001) p. 29

4 David Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape (Temple University

Press, USA, 2002) p. 21

5 James Sanders, Celluloid Skyline (Bloomsbury, UK, 2002) p. 87

6 Sanders p.88

7 Sanders, Authors Note

8 Juan Suarez, – “City Films, Modern Spatiality and the end of the World Trade Centre” in Film and television

after 9/11, ed. Wheeler Winston Dixon (SIU Press, USA, 2004) p.103

9 Suarez p.103

10 Suarez p.114

11 Stanley Corkin, Starring New York (UK, Oxford University Press, 2011) p.192

12

Sanders p. 9613 Douglas Tallack, New York Sights (UK, Berg, 2005) p.174

14 James Howard Kunstler, “The End Of Tall Buildings” in “Planetizen” ,September 17

th 2001 available online at

http://www.math.utsa.edu/ftp/salingar.old/tallbuildings.html accessed 27/03/2012

15 Kunstler

16 Michel De Certeau, The Practice Of Everyday Life (University Of California Press, USA, 2011) p.92

17 Sanders p.246

18 Merrill Schleier, Skyscraper Cinema : Architecture And Gender In American Film (USA, University Of

Minnesota Press, 2009) p.65

19 Neil Rosen, NY1 Movie Interview: "The Adjustment Bureau" available online at

http://www.ny1.com/content/134411/ny1-movie-interview---the-adjustment-bureau- accessed 28/03/2012

20 Marshall Berman, “When Bad Buildings Happen To Good People” in After The World Trade Centre

(Routledge, USA, 2002) p.7


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Conclusion

September 11th 2001 marks a moment in history not just of an atrocious national tragedy, but

also of the day that cinema was inexorably and irreversibly changed forever. New York is not

merely a city, but a definitive, cinematic and ideological space that became representational of

American film, and national identity on a global level. For the past century, the movies have

constructed New York‟s international reputation, presenting it as a conceptualisation of the

American dream that has transcended its physical form worldwide. The impact of that fateful

day in 2001 is an event that has shaken the very core of the cinematic city, challenging our

representations and understanding of New York on celluloid. In struggling to come to terms

with an altered New York in the wake of the attacks, Cinematic New York has shifted to

mirror a new public and social consciousness in its geographical and narrative presentation.

Images of destruction in New York - once a staple of its cinematic heritage- are now

approached with a heightened level of emotional sensitivity that personalises and

individualises the nature of tragedy and loss. The World Trade Centre itself now exhibits a

number of personalities both on and off screen – as Ground Zero, the physical present; it is a

tangible reminder of loss, whilst its resurrection in cinema by directors such as Oliver Stone

has brought the events of that day back into emotional and representational proximity. The

skyline, an iconic part of New York‟s international cinematic identity, has been compromised

by the impact of the attacks, resulting in a re-interpretation of New York‟s historic domination

by vertical space, and “skyscraper modernity” onscreen. 9/11, as an inescapable instant in

history, has affected all aspects of life in both the real and imaginary cities.

In analysing these specific changes that Cinematic New York has undergone in this

study, I have examined just a few aspects of 9/11s impact on its representation. I recognise

that 9/11‟s status as an all-encompassing social, political and historical event in world history

- makes it intrinsically impossible to find any definitive “answer” to the scale and manner in


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which its impact has been felt in cinema, no more than we could comprehend its real-life

impact if we were to walk through the streets of New York today. The representations of race,

urban ruin, transportation and terrorism after 9/11 are just a few examples of topics which, as

a necessity for comprehension, I have avoided delivering any analysis on in this study,

considering instead the aesthetics and contemporary understandings of American psyche. The

sheer impact of 9/11, the manner in which it permeated all aspects of American and

international understanding, make a truly comprehensive study of its relation to cinema nigh

on impossible to ever truly achieve. Despite this, I feel that in this study I have successfully

managed to find some answers to the manner in which Cinematic New York City has begun

to come to terms with the momentous tragedy of that day, within the immediate symbolic

associations of the attacks.

“September 11th 2001” marks the temporal moment in which Islamic terrorists

destroyed the World Trade Centre, killing nearly 3000 people in one of the greatest tragedies

of the last century. “9/11” however has transcended physical and spacial understanding in

cinema and international consciousness, representing not only that fateful day, but the

emotional and psychological trauma that accompanied it. At times, the sheer emotional fallout

of 9/11 in its intensity and scale might be considered incomprehensible within the world

around us. Yet, there is little doubt that Cinematic New York has been changed, perhaps

irrevocably. We must always remember that Cinematic New York is no stranger to change. It

has adapted and updated as a mirror of the “real” city. As Corkin chronicles, it was altered in

the wake of New York‟s transformation into the “world city…of finance and information” in

the late 1970s, eliminating “the blight that had marked it in the 1960‟s and 70‟s…”1 So too

has New York been fundamentally altered in the midst of the massive social and ideological

upheaval that 9/11 brought.


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Will Cinematic New York ever recover from the impact of the attacks? I would

personally argue that to describe a “recovery” of Cinematic New York from the imagery of

9/11 is an impossible concept, a naïve dream. As I stated, like any other cinematic city,

Cinematic New York is fluid, ever-changing. In a matter of years, we shall bear witness to a

new addition to the New York skyline, the “One World Trade Centre”, a new subject of the

cameras gaze, in the inevitable, continuing saga of the skyline‟s representation onscreen.2 To

offer a final, comparison that I feel deserves a level of recognition; consider the atomic

bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, which cut across “every gender, race,

ethnicity, class and cultural, ideological and national boundary”, an event which was equally

as incomprehensible in its magnitude of loss and destruction. 3 Imagery of nuclear

obliteration continues on in popular culture today, and will carry on into the future - tensions

about assured destruction and nuclear obliteration have been accumulated into cinematic

consciousness, regardless of audiences having actually “experienced” the events themselves.

Cinema carries and amplifies memories and emotions past the moment of their conception

and far into the future. Cinematic New York can never “recover” from the impact of 9/11.

Rather, its memory will continue on in the consciousness of film. As time moves on, the

physical and raw emotional damage might fade away. Gaze into the mirror of Cinematic New

York however, and you will find 9/11 under the surface of the city.


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1 Stanley Corkin, Starring New York (UK, Oxford University Press, 2011) p.193

2 “One World Trade Centre becomes New York's tallest building”, BBC News, available at

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17898138,, last modified 30/04/2012, accessed 30/04/2012

3 Jerome Franklin Shapiro, Atomic Bomb Cinema (USA, Routledge,2002) p.2


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Filmography

25th Hour , Spike Lee, 2002

Annie Hall , Woody Allen, 1977

Armageddon, Michael Bay, 1998

As Good As It Gets, James L. Brooks, 1997

Batman, Tim Burton, 1989

Behind Enemy Lines, John Moore, 2002

Blade Runner , Ridley Scott, 1982

Breakfast At Tiffany’s, Blake Edwards, 1961

Broadway Melody, Harry Beaumont, 1929

Citizen Kane, Orson Welles, 1941

Cloverfield , Matt Reeves, 2008

Crooklyn, Spike Lee, 1994

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Escape From New York, John Carpenter, 1981


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Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, Stephen Daldry, 2011

Friends With Kids, Jennifer Westfeldt, 2012

Godspell , David Greene, 1973

Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese, 1990

Independence Day, Dean Devlin, 1996

It , Clarence G. Badger, 1927

King Kong, Merian C. Cooper, 1933

King Kong , Peter Jackson, 2005

Kissing Jessica Stein, Charles Hurman-Wurmfeld, 2001

Man Push Cart , Ramin Bahrani, 2006

Manhatta, Charles Sheeler and Paul Strand, 1921

Men In Black II , Barry Sonenfeld, 2002

Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger, 1969

New Years Eve, Garry Marshall, 2011

Precious, Lee Daniels, 2009

Queens Logic, Steve Rash, 1991

Rafter Romance, William A. Seiter, 1933

Raging Bull , Martin Scorsese, 1980

Remember Me, Allen Coulter, 2010

Serendipity, Peter Chelsom, 2001

Shadows, John Cassavettes, 1959

She’s Gotta Have It , Spike Lee, 1986

Spiderman 3, Sam Raimi, 2007

Superman, Richard Donner, 1978

Susan Lenox : Her Fall And Rise, Robert Z. Leonard, 1931

Taxi Driver , Martin Scorsese, 1976

The Adjustment Bureau, George Nolfi, 2011

The Bourne Identity, Doug Liman, 2002

The Dark Knight , Christopher Nolan, 2008

The Godfather , Francis Ford Coppola, 1972

The Jazz Singer , Alan Crosland, 1927

The Lights Of New York , Bryan Foy, 1931

The Manchurian Candidate, Jonathan Demme, 2004

The Wiz , Sidney Lumet, 1978

United 93, Paul Greengrass, 2006

Wall Street , Oliver Stone, 1987

War Of The Worlds, Stephen Spielberg, 2005

Watchmen, Zack Snyder, 2009

When Harry Met Sally, Rob Reiner, 1989

World Trade Center, Oliver Stone, 2006

You’ve Got Mail, Nora Ephron, 1998

Zoolander , Ben Stiller, 2001


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Appendix

( Fig. 1) Manhatta (1921) – the beginnings of Cinematic New York

(Fig. 2) Urban decay is abound in Taxi Driver (1976)

(Fig.3) …but one year later, love is in the air in Annie Hall (1977)


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(Fig.4) Fictional destruction imagined onscreen. Armageddon (1998)

(Fig.5) 9/11 inevitably brought its own traumatic imagery to world memory.

(Fig.6) Crowds scramble for cover in Armageddon (1998)


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(Fig.7) Destruction is given emotion in Watchmen (2009) through three extras, as opposed to

a hysterical crowd.

(Fig.8) An alien attacks in War of The Worlds (2005)

(Fig. 9) The magnification of the “wound”, evokes an emotional response.


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(Fig. 10) The isolation of the towers from the skyline in Remember Me (2010)

(fig.11) The emotions of Ground Zero and 25th Hour (2002) interweave

(fig.12) The New York skyline – cinematically iconic.


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Fig.13 - The skyscraper become monstrous in Spiderman 2 (2007)

(fig. 14) – Away from the skyscraper in The Adjustment Bureau.

(fig.15) Vertical spaces serve as the emotional space of the tortured protagonist in The Dark

Knight.

Documents

Terror In The Celluloid City