‘SUPERB CINEMA, ESSENTIAL CINEMA,’ WAS GORDON GOW’S OPINION WHEN REVIEWING THIS FILM FOR FILMS AND FILMING: THE MAGAZINE DECLARED IT THE BEST OF ITS YEAR.
A pawnbroker in Harlem is assailed by memories of his wartime experience at Auschwitz, where he guiltily survived but his wife and family perished. ‘He’s a man who’s buried himself in a graveyard,’ Lumet said, ‘and suddenly the graveyard livens up and kicks him out.’ Subliminal flashbacks that gradually increase in length suggest the hero’s thwarted attempt to shut out the past and the necessity for him to re-engage with life. At the core of this harrowing film is a towering performance from Rod Steiger. At the end the character is compelled to release an anguished, silent scream of resurgent humanity. Steiger accomplished it, he said, by thinking of Picasso’s ‘Guernica’: the effect, like much of the film, is stylised but still emotionally overwhelming.Group tickets are available directly from the IFI Box Office on (01) 679 3477
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