The Film Crypt: An Introduction:
We here at The DVD Lounge are dedicated to bringing you reviews of all the latest DVDs; the good, the bad and the very, very ugly. Yet, beyond the DVDs we review, we all watch a lot of movies. Occasionally we see an older film that really blows us away that we want to share with you, our dedicated readers. It may not be a new film or a special anniversary edition re-release, but it’s a brilliant film that you may have never seen or even heard of. This won’t be a regular column as we never know when we’ll see one of these great films, but be rest assured: when we seen them, you’ll be the first to know.
Director John Boorman has been directing films since 1965, but he his most famous or rather infamous is Deliverance (1972), the story of a group of friends who go river rafting and run afoul a bunch of disturbed mountain men starring Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jon Voight and Ronny Cox. He followed that award-winning film with the bizarre and cerebral social commentary laden science fiction film Zardoz (1974) starring Sean Connery. His memorable ’80s film is the dark and disturbing Excalibur (1981), retelling the legend of King Arthur, starring Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson. However, before all that, Boorman made his first major mark on the cinematic world with 1967’s Point Blank, a neo-noir thriller starring Lee Marvin.
Point Blank is the story of Walker (Marvin), a crook who is double crossed by his partner, Reese (John Vernon), and his wife, Lynne (Sharon Acker). After a successful heist, Reese shoots Marvin and leaves him for dead on the recently closed down Alcatraz. About a year later Walker has recovered and sets out to recover his half of the score, $93,000. However now Reese involves himself with a corporate crime syndicate simple called The Organization. But Walker doesn’t care who he gets his money from or how many people die in the process.
Point Blank at it’s heart is a simple revenge flick and in less capable hands could have been nothing more than a bad one-line ridden action movie. John Boorman uses many cinematic techniques such as sound and color to elevate the film, making it more atmospheric and really getting into Walker’s head.
There is one fantastic scene where Walker has located his wife. It starts with him walking down a long stark linoleum tiled hallway and his shoes make a loud rhythmic clacking sound. Inner cut with this is footage of his wife putting on make-up and getting ready for her day, but the rhythmic clacking continues uninterrupted. Then we see Walker driving in a car, but the clacking continues building the tension. Finally we see his wife about to open the door when it bursts open and Walker enters, his feet falling exactly on the foot sounds before they finally end. It’s a perfect scene.
Of course, one could not write about this film without mentioning its star. Lee Marvin is one of the most badass actors that ever lived. He truly was one of a kind and there is no one even remotely like him today. Especially in this film. He presents his gruff, no nonsense attitude that immediately sucks you in and you can help but cheer him on as he grows closer and closer to his goal.
Boorman effectively uses flashback to pull us deeper into Walker’s mind and leaves all the unnecessary exposition dialog out, which is a nice change for this kind of film. He also uses the film as commentary about corporate ’60s Los Angeles. As Walker climbs The Organization’s ladder, passing Reese and leaving him in the dust, the chain of command begins to get fuzzy which makes it difficult to figure out who to go after next and who might actually be able to get him his $93,000.
With superb production value, fantastic acting and some kick-ass action sequences to boot, Point Blank is a gritty atmospheric forgotten neo-noir classic from the ’60s that is most definitely worth your time. So pop it in your Netflix queue, or just go out and buy it if you think it’s your cup of tea, and stay tuned for another installment of The Film Crypt!
