Feature

You Ain't Seen Me, Right? - Prince of the City (1981)

Daniel

22nd April 2011

Let's face it, folks. Cinemas are sticky, overpriced crowded horrorshows filled with hateful, phone-playing tossers - so why not watch a film at home instead? And while you're all waiting for Yogi Bear to be released on DVD, why not try out one of the lesser-known greats highlighted by our regular feature, You Ain't Seen Me, Right? - they're always smarter than the average bear-based shitfest.

You Ain't Seen Me, Right? is brought to you by Daniel Palmer, of Part-Time Infidel web fame. When he farts, it comes out as the loud, harmonised note used on the Dolby Surround Sound promotion.

Prince of the City (1981)
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Prince of the City

Sidney Lumet leaves behind a formidable body of work that charts the evolution of American cinema. Lumet may never have achieved - or sought - the celebrity status of Scorsese or Allen, but he was a filmmaker's filmmaker whose best work is amongst the acme of the medium. Lumet struck a perfect balance between realism and populism, balancing quantity with quality, managing to be both socially conscious and hugely entertaining. He was a master craftsman with an unerring gift for getting the best out of actors, and an innate sense of tone and texture. Unlike many of his contemporaries who graduated from theatre and early TV, Lumet was able to move with the times, understanding that, while the methods may change, the same basic traits apply to the characters in 12 Angry Men (1957) as Before the Devil Knows You're Dead five decades later.

Prince of the City tells the story of Daniel Ciello (Treat Williams), an idealistic, high-flying narcotics detective. The black sheep of his Mob-connected family, Ciello is approached by Cappalino (Norman Parker), an ambitious D.A. heading a commission looking into corruption in Ciello's Special Investigations Unit. Ciello is initially resistant to Cappalino's overture, but he accedes on the proviso that he not be asked to testify against his partners. As the investigation proceeds, Ciello's past is analysed, his integrity is questioned, his friendships are tested and his family is threatened.

Prince of the City has always been in the shadow of Lumet's landmark internal affairs saga, Serpico (1973), dealing as it does with a similar subject matter sans Pacino's bravura depiction of the heroic whistleblower. But that isn't to say that Prince of the City doesn't feature a compelling central performance abetted by a slew of gifted character actors.

Kiss him you fool!


Jerry Orbach's career-defining turn as Ciello's mentor, Gus, displays all the hard-boiled gruffness that made him a fixture of the Law & Order series; James Tolkan is characteristically brusque as Polito, a stern, cocky D.A.; while Bob Balaban brings his customary lightness of touch to the role of Santimassino, a sedate yet wily prosecutor. Williams skilfully articulates the trauma of Ciello's decision to break the code of silence that prevails amongst his peers, charting the character's growing paranoia and physical disintegration without recourse to hackneyed theatrics.

Lumet's trademark technical assurance is here in all its glory; his majestic masters, artful set-ups and fluid tracks bolstered by Andrzej Bartkowiak's stylish neo-noir photography and Tony Walton's accomplished production design. Lumet and Jay Presson Allen's adaptation of Robert Daley's book delves into the rituals of the criminal, procedural and legal worlds, as well as offering some unpalatable truths about race relations and the machinations of the system.

Lumet doesn't seek to lionize or vilify the police, simply to present them as they are - a mixture of hustlers, hotheads and honest men with angles and agendas of their own. Prince of the City provides an authentic glimpse into this maelstrom of moral ambiguity and departmental politics; a milieu where the line between cop and crook is often barely distinguishable.
Consider me knowledged. More from You Ain't Seen Me, Right? next week.

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