The Untouchables: Classic

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This week I re-watched one of my all-time favorite movie, The Untouchables. This Brian De Palma crime classic centers on the effort to arrest the notorious gangster, Al Capone. The movie takes place in the beginning of the 1930’s at the height of the prohibition in Chicago, Illinois. Eliot Ness and his gang of “Untouchables” must bend the rules of the law in order to capture the heavily influential criminal. 

The film stars Kevin Coster as Eliot Ness, Sean Connery as Jimmy Malone, and Robert De Niro plays Al Capone.  The film takes advantage of several engaging shots that really bring the viewer into the retro setting of this film to life. One thing I noticed this time watching it that I had not noticed before is that the clothing was all chosen and designed by Giorgio Armani. I am not really a fashion buff, but I know the significance of Mr. Armani’s name and I believe he did a really good job. The music in the film is entirely done with a full orchestra and it really lines up to the time period and the subject at hand.

The acting is superb. All characters shine especially De Niro’s interpretation of Capone. De Niro, known for his mobster roles, does the part great justice and really helps you understand how sick he really was.

I recommend the film to all.

Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet died yesterday at the age of 86. He is one of the directors that made an everlasting impression in my life and career. He made over 50 films of which many are masterpieces of American Cinema. The first one I saw in the early 60's was The Pawnbroker which left me stunned with its raw power and its fearless look into ills of society that were not the stuff of Hollywood movies, but then again, he was a New Yorker and his films were as unadorned as the City can be.

After that film I made sure I saw everyone of them. In just two years Fail Safe and The Hill came out. I was in film heaven, a very angry heaven!

Maybe you have seen Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Prince of the City, The Verdict, or his last one, appropriately called, Before the Devil Knows you are Dead. He worked with some of the best and most important actors that any director could wish to work with, and got extraordinary realistic performances out of them.

He made history, and he lived during our time.