Inhabiting John Schlesinger’s cynical, violent, Jew’s revenge tale MARATHON MAN, borne out of on William Goldman’s eponymous novel, various characters are driven solely by their cupidity (no patriotic motive or political agenda is involved) to enforce double-crossing, honey trap, home invasion, interrogation, assassination and bomb explosion to the extreme. Only our protagonist, the Columbia University post-graduate student Thomas “Babe” Levy (Hoffman, significantly undergoes a physical transformation and is pungently expressive when things spiral out of his ways of comprehension) is innocently embroiled in a sinister diamond acquisition scheme, because of his own brother Henry “Doc” Levy (Scheider, builds up great mystique around a more intriguing character, only to be gutted halfway in a shocking kicker) turns out to be a secret government agent, and one of the couriers of the diamonds’ transactions, plus both have a millstone around their necks due to the death of their father, an intellectual persecuted in the McCarthy era for Communist affiliation, one tries to right the wrong and the other chooses to sweep it under the carpet.
It all starts with a highly improbable car accident, inflamed by ant-Nazi furor and causing a casualty of two, one of them is the brother of the most-wanted Nazi left alive, Dr. Christian Szell (Olivier), aka, “the White Angel of Auschwitz”, who is therefore, forced out of his hiding in Paraguay, and precipitates his advent in New York to reclaim the diamonds left by his dead brother in a bank’s vault.
In another tautly executed paralleled subplot, Doc survives within a whisker of meeting his own maker from several assassination attempts on his secret mission in Paris, after dispatching a killer he knows, he suspects someone is dispatching all the couriers, and expresses his concern to his superior Peter Janeway (Devane), then shortly after he reunites with Babe, and incidentally discloses the disguised identity of the latter’s continental girlfriend Elsa (Keller, emulating a more relaxed Faye Dunaway impression in an underdeveloped and sidelined role but nevertheless, leaves some impact for her sorry ambivalence), his rendezvous with Szell ends up with him being mortally wounded (there is something under-explained in terms of causality here), and he exhales the last gasp in the arms of Babe, ergo, Babe is plunged into a consecutive horror of abduction, grilling, torture and chase, exacted by Peter, Szell and his underlings, just because they think he knows something about the diamond, here comes Szell’s relentless catchphrase “Is it safe?”.
Eventually, owing to his preparation for the upcoming marathon (yes, he is an avid runner), Babe literally runs out of harm’s way, only to be led up to another set-up rounded off with a David-versus-Goliath victory, the maxim is that even a pacifist can shoot straighter than hapless pro killers when a film is in its homestretch, so that Babe can square up the whole shebang with Szell in the Central Park, where a gun always comes handier than a hidden blade, and a diamond-swallowing act gives a bald Olivier something more to chew than his chillingly diabolical embodiment of pure evil, an Oscar nomination is a sweet payoff.
In the event, MARATHON MAN is a cracking pulp fiction connived by signs of its times such as paranoia, cynicism and a rabid vindictiveness fueled by anti-Nazi fervor, but when the movie is in its kinetic mode, it is a top-tier thriller, relentlessly ominous and unflappably probing the profound helplessness when no one can be trusted in this wretched world.
referential entries: Schlesinger’ DARLING (1965, 7.8/10), SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971, 7.9/10); Sydney Pollack’s THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975, 6.7/10)
I was impressed by these recurring themes. I really like the background music of the whole film, and it is just hit the point. Brotherhood of man impressed me, this plot also bedding the plots after tis.This film is an attractive film, and it keeps several secrets till the very end. It leaves a huge space for people to think.
Inhabiting John Schlesinger’s cynical, violent, Jew’s revenge tale MARATHON MAN, borne out of on William Goldman’s eponymous novel, various characters are driven solely by their cupidity (no patriotic motive or political agenda is involved) to enforce double-crossing, honey trap, home invasion, interrogation, assassination and bomb explosion to the extreme. Only our protagonist, the Columbia University post-graduate student Thomas “Babe” Levy (Hoffman, significantly undergoes a physical transformation and is pungently expressive when things spiral out of his ways of comprehension) is innocently embroiled in a sinister diamond acquisition scheme, because of his own brother Henry “Doc” Levy (Scheider, builds up great mystique around a more intriguing character, only to be gutted halfway in a shocking kicker) turns out to be a secret government agent, and one of the couriers of the diamonds’ transactions, plus both have a millstone around their necks due to the death of their father, an intellectual persecuted in the McCarthy era for Communist affiliation, one tries to right the wrong and the other chooses to sweep it under the carpet.
It all starts with a highly improbable car accident, inflamed by ant-Nazi furor and causing a casualty of two, one of them is the brother of the most-wanted Nazi left alive, Dr. Christian Szell (Olivier), aka, “the White Angel of Auschwitz”, who is therefore, forced out of his hiding in Paraguay, and precipitates his advent in New York to reclaim the diamonds left by his dead brother in a bank’s vault.
In another tautly executed paralleled subplot, Doc survives within a whisker of meeting his own maker from several assassination attempts on his secret mission in Paris, after dispatching a killer he knows, he suspects someone is dispatching all the couriers, and expresses his concern to his superior Peter Janeway (Devane), then shortly after he reunites with Babe, and incidentally discloses the disguised identity of the latter’s continental girlfriend Elsa (Keller, emulating a more relaxed Faye Dunaway impression in an underdeveloped and sidelined role but nevertheless, leaves some impact for her sorry ambivalence), his rendezvous with Szell ends up with him being mortally wounded (there is something under-explained in terms of causality here), and he exhales the last gasp in the arms of Babe, ergo, Babe is plunged into a consecutive horror of abduction, grilling, torture and chase, exacted by Peter, Szell and his underlings, just because they think he knows something about the diamond, here comes Szell’s relentless catchphrase “Is it safe?”.
Eventually, owing to his preparation for the upcoming marathon (yes, he is an avid runner), Babe literally runs out of harm’s way, only to be led up to another set-up rounded off with a David-versus-Goliath victory, the maxim is that even a pacifist can shoot straighter than hapless pro killers when a film is in its homestretch, so that Babe can square up the whole shebang with Szell in the Central Park, where a gun always comes handier than a hidden blade, and a diamond-swallowing act gives a bald Olivier something more to chew than his chillingly diabolical embodiment of pure evil, an Oscar nomination is a sweet payoff.
In the event, MARATHON MAN is a cracking pulp fiction connived by signs of its times such as paranoia, cynicism and a rabid vindictiveness fueled by anti-Nazi fervor, but when the movie is in its kinetic mode, it is a top-tier thriller, relentlessly ominous and unflappably probing the profound helplessness when no one can be trusted in this wretched world.
referential entries: Schlesinger’ DARLING (1965, 7.8/10), SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY (1971, 7.9/10); Sydney Pollack’s THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975, 6.7/10)
I was impressed by these recurring themes. I really like the background music of the whole film, and it is just hit the point. Brotherhood of man impressed me, this plot also bedding the plots after tis.This film is an attractive film, and it keeps several secrets till the very end. It leaves a huge space for people to think.
刚坐下就看到白色天使下飞机，走过非常art deco的机场走道，挖~太old school~
然后紧接着就是老头子杀哥哥时的背景，那个阶梯造型雕塑，配上70年代特有的荧光红色氛围灯实在太复古了。
我就在想，如果上海都是国泰电影院啊、百乐门跳舞厅啊那样的建筑，那该有多美。
追车戏是在不动的汽车里拍，窗外放移动街景。
枪战戏则是鞭炮加颜色调配的不是很像血的血包。
严刑逼供用的手法最最恐怖不过了！整套牙医器材虽然比风声之武田长的解剖刀具收藏差之甚远，但是电钻钻门牙的恐怖可真是感同身受啊……
整片最cult的地方在于，主角从坏人那里逃出来后，发现家门口有坏人重兵把守，就叫开对街邻居（一个小流氓）的门，说：“拜托你去抢劫我家吧，我只要一套衣服和我的手枪，其他的家具和电器你统统搬走！但是这很危险，你考虑清楚哟！”
小流氓咧开嘴笑了：“我不怕危险，只怕不够好玩~”
于是叫来了5，6个小痞子，兴师动众去撬门。
一个坏人发现不对，亮手枪，不耐烦：“走开走开~”
结果每个小痞子都掏出一把枪指着他：“想死啊？！”
坏人只好缩特……
附《金元大劫案》链接
http://www.douban.com/subject/1306992/
在学校图书馆，勒维注意到一个漂亮的姑娘。经过勒维自己创造机会，他终于和姑娘相识，并得知这位来自瑞士的姑娘名叫埃尔莎。很快，勒维和埃尔莎陷入热恋，无论勒维是去跑步，还是到图书馆读书，埃尔莎都会陪伴在他身边，这让勒维感到前所未有的幸福和充实。
然而有一天，两名黑衣人袭击了勒维，这让勒维感到莫名其妙。他将这一事件告诉了多克，很快多克便从华盛顿返回家中。多克听说勒维新认识了女朋友，便让勒维约埃尔莎一起共进午餐。多克从埃尔莎的谈吐中发现破绽，他认定埃尔莎不是瑞士人，他希望埃尔莎对此解释。埃尔莎对此十分生气，她愤怒地离开了现场。勒维也觉得哥哥此举并不妥当，先行离开了餐桌。
晚上勒维准备洗完澡去找埃尔莎，多克突然进门，倒在血泊中。多克的突然离世让勒维无法接受，在尸体被验尸官带走后，一名叫杰尼的警察留了下来。他告诉勒维自己和多克是朋友也是同事，从事石油行业只是多克的掩护，事实上他效力于秘密组织，死亡原因是政治斗争。勒维简直不敢相信，自己的哥哥竟然为了保护自己而隐瞒了真实情况。很快，在杰尼离开后，两名神秘黑衣人再次出现。他们将勒维绑架，一个白头发的老头向勒维逼问多克临死前的遗言。事实上多克生前没有向勒维透露任何信息，勒维自然无法提供。老头用牙医专用工具折磨勒维，令勒维生不如死。幸好杰尼及时出现，打死了两名黑衣人，并救出了勒维。
杰尼告诉勒维，白头发老头是外号白色天使的纳粹分子塞尔。二战期间塞尔在集中营偷偷释放犹太人，但要向他们收取黄金，之后发展为收取钻石。这为塞尔积累了大量财富，也使他在战后成为全球通缉的要犯。多年来他一直躲在乌拉圭，这一次在美国现身就是为了取回他存在银行保险箱里价值连城的钻石。勒维的哥哥就是因为卷入这件事而遭到暗杀。杰尼同样向勒维追问多克的遗言，在得知多克确实没有留下任何遗言后又将勒维送回到塞尔身边。原来杰尼假装取得勒维的信任，事实上他是塞尔的手下。
勒维找机会逃了出来，并约埃尔莎见面。当见到埃尔莎后，勒维才明白埃尔莎确实如哥哥所说的，她不是瑞士人，而是塞尔派来故意安插在勒维身边的。勒维感到无比痛苦，他决定不再逃跑，用埃尔莎做人质将杰尼及其手下骗到指定地点。
在结果了杰尼等人后，勒维来到银行，抓到了刚刚取出钻石的塞尔。在一处偏远的自来水厂内，勒维为哥哥报了仇。那些钻石和塞尔一起滚入蓄水池中，这个臭名昭著的纳粹分子终于得到了应有的惩罚。