Prince of the City (Lumet, 1981): ICA Cinema, 5pm
This is a 35mm presentation from the Badlands Collective.
Time Out review:
Dealing with drugs, cops and corruption, this is Serpico all over
again, but revised, enlarged and immeasurably improved. All moral
certainties have gone, leaving instead a can of worms where questions of
friendship, loyalty and honesty are redefined in the ambiguous light of
corruption as a NY police officer (Treat Williams), inspired by an
indefinable mixture of reformist zeal, guilty self-loathing, and sheer
delight in the opportunity for headline exploits, turns informer on
behalf of the DA's commission of enquiry. An astonishing in-depth
portrait of the interlocking worlds of police and hoodlum results, with
no punches pulled and no easy solutions. Sidney Lumet isn't noted as the most
cinematic of directors; but here the intricate mosaic structure he
developed in Dog Day Afternoon generates a dynamism entirely its own, with the invisible mise en scène guaranteed by the galvanising interplay of New York locations and a brilliant ensemble cast.
Tom Milne
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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