I didn't even know this movie existed until recently and I'm surprised it does not receive more acclaim.
shareThat's exactly what I was going to say coming to this board. I had never really heard of it, but when I watched it on TV, I was suprised that it was such a good movie and no one, including me, even knew it existed.
Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you're bound to live life fully.
I just recently saw it for the first time. It was good until the VERY end. What was it all about? Why did he stab his hand? Did he go on living & suffering? I was left feeling something was missing and unexplained in the end.
Look at the awards & nominations sideline and you'll see it was acclaimed back in it's day. I do think it's a bit dated though as are most movies with 60's urban/beatnik themes.
I watched this film in a Jewish American Film class which revolved around four main Jewish directors: Mel Brooks and Woody Allen (of course); and then Sidney Lumet and Paul Mazursky - and a smattering of recent Jewish directed films (Pi and X-Men are the two I remembered off the top of my head). To get to the point, no one in the class had heard of The Pawnbroker, but it had the most effect on the students after the viewing - not much talking afterwards, etc.
****SPOILER****
It was good until the VERY end. What was it all about? Why did he stab his hand? Did he go on living & suffering?
Wow, well constructed visuals. Plus, the quick jump cut flashbacks.
An instant classic feel.
It's a powerful work, not least of all for its radical editing style. Lumet uses a kind of subliminal cutting, in which some shots are held on the screen for only a fraction of a second ... The focus of the film is the pawnbroker's repressed memories of the Holocaust which keep forcing their way back into his consciousness. Lumet suggests this psychological process by intercutting a few frames of the memory shots during a scene that is taking place in the present. A present tense event detonates the pawnbroker's memory .... and as past contends with the present, the flickering memory shots endure longer until a flashback sequence eventually becomes dominant and the present is momentarily suspended. If any of this seems familiar to you now, (especially after Fight Club!) you have to appreciate how fresh and original Lumet's work was at the time.
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I'm sorry jtbuzz-1, but you have no right to declare a movie "dated" when you don't even have enough experience with movies yourself to understand them. Why on earth do you THINK he stabbed his hand? And what do you THINK went on with his life after the film ended? Can't you take a few guesses? Films are visual medium and the scenes are supposed to be communicating something to you. I think you need to watch a whole lot of movies throughout cinema history and begin to build up a visual vocabulary. Only once you have an understanding of what you are watching can you then criticize the historical period of any particular film. Until then, you are only a viewer of Saturday morning cartoons.
shareThis film is timeless rather than dated. Regardless of all the subsequent historical research, anyone who has read about the Holocaust can see a range of different themes emphasised in this film. It was also a very original concept in plot from the beginning, to have juxtaposed wartime trauma with urban decay.
shareSuch a thought - provoking piece, The Pawnbroker is memorable for this reason. Particularly with Sol described all races as "scum". Although some could say Sol had become a complete pessimist, the situation he found himself in regarding being exploited by Rodriguez showed the continuation of humanity's dark side which by going to America, Sol had supposedly freed himself from.
"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".
No reason to be hostile to the film or each other here.
jtbuzz, films are dated as soon as they're sent for distribution. Technology is a constant change and moving at a faster rate daily.
If we concentrate on the plot of any film, there's truly nothing new.
For instance, how can we say a movie is dated because it's produced in the 1960's even if the plot is murder?
Would it matter if the Pawnbroker was placed in time 200 years earlier and Steiger still suffers the same memories but from another form of genocide?
Granted, most can relate to the holocaust since it happened not that long ago and many survivors are in the United States.
In cinema, a story can be altered in order to gain the the greatest reaction. This with true stories so we can be entertained.
And the Directors know this.
That is why authors or survivors from a tragedy will not allow their lives to be put in film.
Rod Steiger is a great actor where I give plausibility and credit rather than one who breaks box office records. And most of that is stunts, smoke and mirrors.
Not that I don't like to hear "yippee-Kay-ayyy *beep*
Steiger deserved to win Best Actor, no doubt. We all know it. But the Academy is that way at times.
And maybe a movie will be made about the subject to become a stirring sensation.
Wouldn't it be ironic if it was nominated for the big 5 and walks away with nothing?
They are left with that magical envelope with the nominations. And feel like the many who said "no effing way"!
it should receive more acclaim than it does. my grandmother hid Jews from Hitler's SS. back in the early 40's so something like this hits home with me being German.
are you going to bark all day little doggie,, or are you going to bite
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