I am a huge fan of Sidney Lumet. While some have flocked to
his more notable films I’ve always been one that enjoyed the smaller films he
made that didn’t seem to draw more attention, like PRINCE OF THE CITY. So when
I heard that this film was coming out I was anxious to watch it again. I kept
thinking I had seen it once long ago but after watching it I don’t think so. If
I had I’m not sure I would have looked forward to it as much.
The movie is based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow who wrote
the screenplay as well. The book as well as the movie are a thinly based look
at the lives of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, names long forgotten by many but
not all. The couple was accused of selling secrets to the Russians at the height
of the cold war and were executed for espionage, the first to be Americans to
be executed for this reason since WWII.
This story begins in the late 60s with a family dinner in
which Daniel Isaacson (Timothy Hutton) broods about life and all there is while
his sister Susan (Amanda Plummer) goes on about the current state of affairs in
the world. As the pair are about to be awarded a large sum of money for what
happened to their parents, Susan wants to use it to open a center in their name
that will take on numerous social injustice issues. She has no clue what, she
has no idea exactly what they will do or how they will continue to fund it,
like many radicals of the time they just want change. When Daniel confronts her
becoming more and more violent in his outburst she collapses wanting justice
for her parents.
The movie moves back and forth through time from start to
finish. We move back to see their parents Paul and Rochelle (Mandy Patinkin and
Lindsay Crouse) as they meet in college, both enthralled by the Communists
movement and how it pertains to the union workers they support. When Paul
returns from the war they get involved with the party, meeting with people and
attending summer camps where speakers come to talk to them and inspire them. As
they grow we get to see the two young children as well, growing up in this
atmosphere.
Moving forward again we find that Susan has attempted
suicide. Daniel tries to comfort her in the hospital and finds her mental
torment combined with the questions he has of his own inspire him to follow
through with what she wanted, justice for their parents. Using this as the
basis for his graduate thesis, he begins to look deeper into what happened,
searching for clues as to why his parents of all the other people involved with
the Communists back then were singled out and if they did indeed do what they
were accused of.
As the story unwinds moving back and forth from past to
present, the clues are offered. Theories are discussed. Anger is unleashed.
Does Daniel discover what it is he is looking for? Is justice finally served?
Sorry, no major spoiler here, watch and find out.
Story wise this film will either rankle you or make you
cheer. If you lean to the left you’ll find this a great movie, to the right
you’ll find the many flaws it involves, most of which were not discovered until
2008 when papers were released thanks to the freedom of information act. Those
papers showed the Julius Rosenberg did indeed pass information along to the
Russians though if his wife was involved remains a mystery. And yet people
still hold them up as victims of an oppressive government ignoring this
discovery. The movie would rather paint them as heroes. The concept of having
to decide whether to sell out your fellow party members or to live and take
care of your family shows that the cause was more important to these
characters.
The movie is well made and the cinematography is
spectacular. The transfer done by Olive Films on this title is amazing and
looks as clean as anything I’ve witnessed transferred to blu-ray format. The
directing shows that Lumet was a master at what he did but at the same time
could allow his judgement to be clouded when it came to subject matter.
Perhaps the most disappointing thing to witness here is the
overzealous acting on display from the leads. I’m not sure who to blame for
that though, Lumet or the actors themselves. One can’t help but know their
personal political feelings in real life and those are injected strenuously
into their performances. Rather than help it makes them feel more like
caricatures than real people which is to the detriment of the performances.
Subtlety would have been a better path to take rather than trying to present
the characters as heroic martyrs.
The problem with movies that take on political issues is
that they tend to get far too caught up in the beliefs of the film makers
themselves. It doesn’t matter if they lean left or right, the occasions to find
a movie of this type that doesn’t push too hard one way or the other is rare. Instead
the film makers beat you over the head so hard that the end result is being
turned off from what they are trying to tell you. I felt this way after
watching DANIEL. It glorifies the protest movement composed more of symbolism
than actual accomplishment. Sorry but we get enough of that these days and when
it’s slammed into your head as a movie it just isn’t entertaining.
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