The Punk revolution clashes headlong with Disco and, whilst Italian-American,
working class residents of the Bronx get on with their lives and relationships,
a killer stalks the city, Son of Sam, the .44 Killer, David
Berkowitz.The film's focus is mainly on Vinny, a true Disco believer, his wife and
Ritchie, a Punk convert, as their relationships fall apart but drags in
references to all that is happening at that moment in time.
The first half of the film seemed to drag a little as the characters were
slowly formed but picked up pace and attracted greater interest in the
second.
Whilst the relationships and lives of the characters formed the main thread of
the film, it was intercut with the horror of Berkowitz's killings, the efforts
the police were making to track down the murderer, news reports on their
progress and the interest the local mafia gang was taking in stopping the
killings.
The madness of Berkowitz, driven insane by the incessant barking of a black
Labrador Retriever outside his apartment window, the 2,000 year old dog which
Berkowitz, in real life, claimed, at his trial, had told him to kill all his
victims, was well captured.
The murders he committed were shown with a brutal nakedness; sudden, unexpected,
bloody and total but the true horror of the act seemed to be lacking.
The public's response to the killings was covered fairly well and the
suspicions as to who the Son of Sam was and the consequences of those
suspicions, one half of the main story threads, was handled well.
The other main thread was the relationship of Vinny and his wife, a relationship
being torn apart as Vinny, unable, because of his beliefs, to have the kind of
sex he wanted, turned to other women to satisfy his needs.
This was the thread which provided the opportunity to get as much skin and sex
on the screen as possible, but it was integral to the plot.
The background settings of the working class areas of the Bronx and the Disco's
worked well but the Punk backgrounds jarred.
American punk differed greatly from British Punk so I cannot give an authorative
opinion on the film's interpretation but it all seemed wrong and proved to be a
great distraction.
Ritchie presented a confusing vision of Punk, obsessed by The Who, both
musically and in clothing iconography, definitely Mod and very pre Punk.
Whilst managing to deliver true, American Style, New Wave, Punk in the
set piece at CGBG's, the audience were more Goth than Punk; razor blade
necklaces and earrings with safety pins through ears, lips and eyebrows may have
been de rigueur for the hard core but I'm sure tongue studs were a decoration
of the late eighties or nineties.
When the Sex Pistols toured The States, they were confronted with an
audience dressed in Glam Rock finery, more appropriate for a Ziggy
Stardust theme night, so, I could well be wrong in my criticisms.
Realism elsewhere was much more in evidence and on the whole it all fitted
together well; good characterisations, good plotline, good threading of
events and good acting.
Despite a clinical assessment failing to reveal any major flaws, other than the
problem I have with the possibly faulty portrayal of Punks, the film failed to
grab me and pull me in.
The whole film interested me but never captivated me; I can't quite put my
finger on what it was but I always felt a bit detached.
On paper, the film is excellent. In terms of actually viewing it, it wasn't as
good as it should have been.
