‘The reality is that we do not wash our own laundry–it just gets dirtier...’
Serpico combines several disparate elements hardcore cinema fans love. The gritty realism of 1970s New Hollywood, an iconic director in Sidney Lumet, shooting on location in the mean streets of New York, Al Pacino shouting, and ‘based on a true story’. And, of course, it’s brilliant…
Frank Serpico is a real-life former plain-clothes NYPD detective who became famous for exposing corruption within the department. Peter Maas’ book Serpico was adapted into a film by Lumet and writers Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler. Pacino was recruited as the titular protagonist and the rest is history.
What makes this film so compelling is Pacino’s performance and the character himself. He appears to be on a one-man crusade but his motivations are always murky, his morality far from perfect. Rightly Oscar-nominated, Pacino provides one of his finest performances here. He’s loud when he needs to be, but he is just as compelling in the film’s quieter moments. This is the most I can remember losing myself in a Pacino performance. He’s such a big name now, with such a distinctive acting style, that it’s tough to see past the idea of Al Pacino into the heart of what made him so lauded in the first place. Serpico sees Pacino at his best but also Lumet who brings the sleaze and venality of NYC in the 70s to life in all its violent glory. It’s a heady mix and the resulting film is a classic of the genre in the same vein as Chinatown or The French Connection.
I went into Serpico expecting a typical ’70s cop thriller. There is much more at play here. The film subtly probes the nature of corruption and the conditions in which it is allowed to thrive in a unique and unforgettable way—a genre classic.