New York Stories

film by Allen, Coppola, and Scorsese [1989]

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 20, 2026

Quick Summary

New York Stories is a 1989 anthology film featuring three distinct stories, each directed by a prominent filmmaker: Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. The film explores different facets of life in New York City through these individual narratives.

Woody Allen's segment, "Oedipus Wrecks," is a comedic tale about a man who discovers his mother is a magician and he was produced from her hat. Francis Ford Coppola directed "Life Without Zoë," which follows a young girl trying to reunite her estranged parents. Martin Scorsese's contribution, "The Key," centers on a wealthy, eccentric artist who loses his lucky charm and becomes obsessed with finding it. The film offers a diverse look at the city and its inhabitants.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Woody Allen
The 1980s
…humorous contribution to the triptych New York Stories (1989)—“Oedipus Wrecks,” about an attorney whose nagging mother (Mae Questel) transmogrifies into an omniscient specter—was widely acknowledged to be the film’s strongest segment. Allen’s next project, Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), ranks among his finest films. An ambitious Fyodor Dostoyevsky-like meditation on the…
Read More
…humorous contribution to the triptych New York Stories (1989)—“Oedipus Wrecks,” about an attorney whose nagging mother (Mae Questel) transmogrifies into an omniscient specter—was widely acknowledged to be the film’s strongest segment. Allen’s next project, Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), ranks among his finest films. An ambitious Fyodor Dostoyevsky-like meditation on the…
Read More

Adrien Brody
Early life and education
…part in the anthology movie New York Stories (1989). He briefly attended both Stony Brook University and Queens College before moving to Los Angeles.
Read More
…part in the anthology movie New York Stories (1989). He briefly attended both Stony Brook University and Queens College before moving to Los Angeles.
Read More

Martin Scorsese
Films of the 1980s: Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, and The Color of Money
…was a segment of the New York Stories (1989) triptych (which also contains segments by Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola). Nick Nolte played a middle-aged bearish slob of a painter desperate to keep his restless paramour-disciple (Rosanna Arquette) from moving out.
Read More
…was a segment of the New York Stories (1989) triptych (which also contains segments by Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola). Nick Nolte played a middle-aged bearish slob of a painter desperate to keep his restless paramour-disciple (Rosanna Arquette) from moving out.
Read More