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Naked City - Criterion Collection |
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Home: You are here: DVD : Naked City - Criterion Collection |
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Naked City - Criterion Collection  Rating: Rating:  - Did I see the same film?This has developed a rep as being a landmark movie, but somehow I managed to miss it. Now that I've seen it I don't understand the praise at all. The Irish affected Fitzgerald barely carries the lead, and the rest of the acting is simply putrid, horribly ham handed. I watched the scene with the mother identifying her dead daughter, and all I could think of is that she had another job that afternoon and had to emote quick and flee. The preceding scene where the young cop comes home to handle spanking his kid is completely pointless, and the acting by husband and wife is soap opera quality at best, just awful. It gets worse, there's a narrative track would embarrass a "Dragnet" episode, syrupy strings in the soundtrack, and dialogue that often wanders off point, making it difficult to follow. All the side bits just waste time, the action doesn't move from scene to scene in a form which builds any sense of continuity. I couldn't even finish watching it, so I guess I'll never know who Mcillicuddy was. PS: Yes, I know this was 1948. But that's pretty late in the day to make something this inept. There were plenty of decent films being made by that time, no excuse. Rating:  - The architype of police procedurals - and, film noir to bootA murder. The evidence. The investigation. Red herrings. Resolution. This film's DNA runs through all that followed - from Dragnet to Law & Order. Buy this film if you love 1948 NYC and Irish detectives - a great film! Rating:  - One of Eight Million StoriesThis landmark film, energetically directed by Jules Dassin not long before the McCarthy witch-hunts forced him out of the U.S., deserves the typically classy Criterion treatment. As we have now come to expect of all Criterion versions, the print has been beautifully restored and meticulously annotated. Movies of any decade do not hold up equally well; "Naked City" is flawed by producer Mark Hellinger's narration--often hammy and too much "on-the-nose"--and some dated performances. On the other hand, the police procedural still draws you in, the music score is superb, and the noirish yet documentary-quality of post-war New York City makes for a wondrous time-capsule. (Thank God the move was shot in black and white. Color would have ruined it.) Like the place and people it captures, ""The Naked City" is an imperfect but very good movie. Rating: - no truer depiction of new york was ever caught on screenjust an all-around great movie! jules dassin directed this groundbreaking film, shot in and around late 1940s new york city: a decade too early for me to remember its reality, but still close enuf in time for me to sense just how accurately it was caught. any fan of procedural television cop shows of today (the "law & order" or "csi" franchises most prominent among them) should go take a look at this to understand where they came from; tho the immature eye might view this earlier version as "primitive" in some senses, that would be akin to a fan of adam sandler disparaging chaplin. barry fitzgerald is wonderfully schlumpfy as the long-time detective working his way thru a homicide investigation, even making a misstep or two along the way. great supporting cast, great editing, great writing, great cinematography, &c. -- and neat extras on the dvd, highlighted by a long interview with the still going strong dassin, whos a hoot! this is a must see. |
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