Since Manhattan in 1979, Woody Allen has presented no less than fourteen films Out of Competition during the Festival. In this new opus, a young man (Jesse Eisenberg) defies Hollywood, falls in love with Vonnie (Kristen Stewart, also starring in Personal Shopper by Olivier Assayas in Competition) and then Veronica (Blake Lively), and discovers the effervescence of New York's "Café Society", where aristocrats, film stars, millionaires and fabulous jazzmen mix.
From the hills of Los Angeles where his uncle, an artistic agent (Steve Carell) rules, to New York for which he is homesick, Bobby is the incarnation of the young, fictitious Woody Allen, the one in Annie Hall or Hannah and her Sisters. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) is a real alter ego of the director, and this is the second time that he has shot with Allen (To Rome with Love). Eisenberg expresses himself like a double, "like the master would".
Film stars, millionaires, seducers, ambitious women and gangsters fill the screen of this ensemble film "that doesn't focus on just one character", painting a picture of a golden era during which Manhattan "moved to the beat of its theatres, cafés and classy restaurants".
