Director Sidney Lumet passed away on April 9th. It has been my intention to pay tribute to this master craftsman who created some of the most memorable films for the fifty years. Starting with 12 Angry Men in 1957 and ending with Before The Devil Knows Your Dead in 2007, Lumet delivered one great work after another. He was a prolific director who sometimes released more than one film a year. he had a reputation as an actor's director working with the same actor's over and over again. He made five films with actor Sean Connery and three with Henry Fonda. Lumet was at his peak in the 70's when he directed Serpico, Murder On The Orient Express, Network and Dog Day Afternoon. But no director is perfect and he closed out this period of creative genius with the dreadful The Wiz.
In deciding what film of Lumet's to watch, I used a recent Facebook discussion initiated by my friend David about the body of work produced by Al Pacino, as a guide. Pacino and Lumet made two iconic films together, Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon, and Lumet, more than any other director, seemed to be able to get the best performances out of Pacino. In both films Pacino is a man under pressure who is trying to hold things together. Lumet directs Pacino to keep his emotional outburst under control, so when they do happen they are like mini explosions of anger and fury. In the hands of lesser director's Pacino's outburst were allowed to be expansive and go on and on, until he played entire roles with the volume turned to "11".
Serpico was one of the best in a series of gritty, urban police/crime dramas made in the 1960's and 70's. Other notable films were The Detective, Madigan, No Way To Treat A Lady, The Incident, The French Connection, Report To The Commissioner, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Boston Strangler, The Laughing Policemen, Across 110th Street, Dog Day Afternoon, Death Wish and Dirty Harry.
All were filmed on location, usually highlighting run down neighborhoods and parts of cities suffering from urban decay. All used naturalistic lighting so the films had a sense of realism and some scenes, especially nighttime, would be dark and murky. They usually had jazz based musical scores with percussion's that tended to drive the action, but also wind instruments that provide a note of melancholy.
Serpico is based on the non-fiction book by Peter Maas and tells the real-life story of New York City police Officer Frank Serpico who struggled his entire career to fight corruption on the police force. As a new officer he is filled with idealism and the determination to do his best as a police man. he soon learns that corruption runs rampant on the force. That almost every officer and detective he encounters is on the take and some cops are as bad as the criminals. He wants no part of this and his failure to participate leads to mistrust amongst his fellow officers who view him as an outsider. The mistrust turns to threats and intimidation and soon Serpico is as much danger from his fellow cops as he is from the crooks on the street.
Pacino gives one of his greatest performances in Serpico. His progression from a man who wants to do right to the officer testifying before the Knapp Commission is outstanding. Serpico was released in a period of cultural turmoil. The film was released just one year after the Knapp Commission released it's final report on the widespread corruption in the New York Police Department and politicians, cops and the public were still dazed at the scope of it all.
Lumet captures everything with the sure hand of a master film maker. He collaborated with screen writers Norman Wexler (Saturday Night Fever) and Waldo Salt (Midnight Cowboy) on the script. The cinematography that captured the gritty realism of New York City was by Arthur J. Ornitz (Boys In The Band, Death Wish, The Anderson Tapes). The film was edited by Dede Allen (Bonnie and Clyde) and Richard Marks (The Godfather Part II). The music was composed by Mikis Theodorakis, nominated for a Grammy for his work. Serpico was also nominated for two Oscars, one for Pacino and one for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Pacino did win a Golden Globe Award for his performance.
At The Movie House rating **** stars
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