There is not another city in the world, not even Los Angeles, that cinema loves more than New York City. There is a special place in the film industry for the greatest city in the world that has been there since the beginning, and that love can be felt in countless films. If you grew up in New York or the surrounding New York Metro Area, then you probably feel a connection to films centered around our city. Many films that center around New York are really an ode to the city that never sleeps and the different emotions it evokes in people. In fact, New York isn’t just a setting for many films, it’s a character.
New York is nicknamed the city that never sleeps for a reason. The city is alive and breathing at all times. There’s hustle and bustle even at 3:00 AM in New York. Anyone who says that NYC can be explored in just a weekend clearly has not had the full experience because there are about a million different things to see and try. It is a city that moves with its people and is always changing. Filmmakers choose to utilize New York as both a setting and a character for these reasons. The film industry continues to write love letters to the city because there is a quality to New York that makes it unique from other cities. So, here are 15 films where New York isn’t just a setting, but a character.Related:Best Films Set in New York, Ranked
15Frances Ha (2012)
A New York woman named Frances (Greta Gerwig) apprentices for a dance company and fully commits herself to pursuing her dreams, even as the reality of achieving them dwindles in Noah Baumbach’sFrances Ha. The concept of moving to New York City to pursue your dreams isn’t new, but it’s a concept that people around the world consistently believe in.Frances Hademonstrates thatbelief in a very realistic manner. Sometimes our dreams require more thought and dedication than we realize but being in the most famous city in the world makes us think that we just need to believe.
14Rear Window (1954)
Alfred Hitchcock’s classicRear Windowstarring Grace Kelly and James Stewart takes place in one apartment in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the city. A wheel-chair bound photographer spies on his neighbors through his courtyard window and becomes convinced that one of them has committed murder. This movie would not work nearly as well without the tight space of multiple apartment buildings surrounding this small courtyard in the city. It makes the viewer feel confined and anxious like they themselves are in one of these apartment buildings.
13Moonstruck (1987)
Loretta Castorini is a bookkeeper from Brooklyn who finds herself in an uncomfortable situation when she falls in love with the brother of the man she is supposed to marry inMoonstruck. Right from the get-go, it is obvious that Loretta is a New Yorker whose identity is inevitably tied to being from the city. The big hair, the Italian-New York accent, and the big family are dead giveaways. Everything about this movie is about being a New Yorker. As much as it’s about the love affair between Loretta and Ronny, it’s also a love letter to the city.
12While We’re Young (2014)
When a carefree young couple enters their lives, a middle-aged couple’s careers and marriage are disrupted inWhile We’re Young. Being young in NYC is something that everyone should have the chance to experience. To be free-spirited and have the city as your landscape is incredible. However, it may not always feel like that, especially as you get older. you’re able to party until 5:00 AM or order takeout at 1:00 AM without worry, but when you have already lived through your youth, that may not be appealing anymore. The constant movement of the city may not be one of your favorite aspects anymore, andWhile We’re Youngposes that sentiment.
11The Apartment (1960)
Billy Wilder’sThe Apartmentis a classic New York-centered film. A Manhattan insurance clerk trying to rise through the ranks of his company allows his executives to use his apartment for romantic rendezvouses, but complications ensue when a romance of his own blossoms. Not only is New York a character in this film, but the actual apartment is a character as well. All the characters have some sort of connection with this apartment, and it has become a well-known figure within the company. They have become reliant on what they think the apartment has to offer them.
10Mean Streets (1973)
Martin Scorsese is a born and raised New Yorker, and he embraces it. Even in films such asMean Streets, where the streets are filled with trash and there’s violence around, it is evident that Scorsese loves his hometown. A small-time hood attempts to keep the peace between his friend Johnny and his debt collectors in this mob movie, and the seedy streets of NYC in the ’70s are always lurking in the shadows.
9The Warriors (1979)
A street gang known as The Warriors must fight their way from the Bronx back to their home turf on Coney Island in Brooklyn after they are falsely accused of assassinating another gang leader. New York in the ’70s was very different than it is now. Crime rates were higher, the streets and sidewalks were dirtier, and there wasn’t a general sense of order. Much like the rivalry between the gangs inThe Warriors, there was somewhat of a rivalry between the boroughs of the city. People from each borough want to believe that they are from the best area of the city.
8Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Most kids probably dream of having a day when they arefree from their parents' rulesand can choose what they want to do with their time. What better place to do that than in the heart of New York City? Kevin McCallister gets to do exactly that inHome Alone 2: Lost in New York. Manhattan becomes his playground, and the staff at the Plaza Hotel his toys. He meets all different types of people on his solo journey throughout the Big Apple, but the person who has the most impact on him is the lady he meets in Central Park with the pigeons. She is kind to Kevin, and her home is literally just New York itself. She does not have a traditional home, the city is home enough.
7West Side Story (1961)
Musicals make their home in New York City, so it’s fitting that inWest Side Story, NYC is the heart of the story. Two rival gangs, the American Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks, compete with each other to dominate the streets of the Upper West Side. Tensions rise to tragic levels as two teenagers, one from each gang, fall in love. New York is the battleground in this film adaptation of the Broadway musical. The gangs climb up fire escapes, jump over chain link fences, and meet under streetlights to fight their way into owning their corner of the island of Manhattan.
Related:Best New York Love Stories, Ranked
6Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Breakfast at Tiffany’shas certainly received somevalid criticismsover the decades, but it is still considered an icon for films set in New York. Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a New York socialite who takes interest in a young man who moves into her apartment building, but her past threatens to intervene. High fashion, expensive jewelry, and grand penthouses fill the frames within this film, all aspects of the New York high society scene. The iconic status this movie has received within pop culture most likely would not exist if it wasn’t for the sweeping landscape of NYC and the flashy nature of wealth.
