Blast of Silence
1961 Directed by Allen Baron
Synopsis
A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past, and a fat gun dealer with pet rats, each gets in his way.
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A forgotten gem, brought back from the dead by Criterion, Allen Baron (director, writer and star) tells the tale of a Cleveland gun for hire, coming back to the Brooklyn of his youth for his latest job. At Christmas.
Blast of Silence is a different kind of noir, and not just because it came out in '61. The most importance difference is the stand-out voice over by Lionel Stander's trademark gravel. It's more like a voice inside Baron's head than anything else. A dark voice. And its' Brooklyn setting is very realistically portrayed, and filmed. Not to mention excellent. So, so bleak, though.
Only weakness in the story is when the self loathing hitman tries to form a bond with a female friend. It's unnecessary and adds nothing. -
«And this is it, baby boy Frankie Bono. You're alone now. All alone. The scream is dead. There's no pain. You're home again, back in the cold, black silence.»
Have to admit, Allen Baron is a filmmaker I knew absolutely nothing about before this. Still don't, actually, but this was quite interesting anyhow.
Baron also plays the lead, and it turns out he's just one mole short of being the spitting image of Robert De Niro! But he holds his own, and the film is quite cool. I like voice over in cases like this, when they actually add something which can't easily be seen otherwise, like thoughts not directly linked to the events taking place on screen. And it's…
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Blast of Silence considers itself to be clever due to the fact that it dwells on every single film-noir cliche we've ever seen. Tell me this, if we'd already seen it... why do we want to see it again?
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A lean, mean Christmas noir, in which a self-hating hitman – violence coursing through him like a virus – comes to NYC to do a job, but finds himself tempted by the lure of a real life. The acting’s not always the best, but Larry Tucker is super as a sweaty gun-dealer, the location photography is absolutely stunning and there’s a florid, doom-laden second person narration by the blacklisted Lionel Stander!
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Allen Baron established himself in 1961 as one of America’s most promising new filmmakers with Blast of Silence, a noir thriller that he wrote, directed and starred in. He practically disappeared from the industry afterwards, directing only a handful of other projects that haven’t lasted the test of time and mostly working in the television field, but his debut feature lives on as a gritty, atmospheric work of art. Immediately, the film explodes onto the screen, surrounding the viewer with sounds of a child being born, as we are narrated through child birth and find ourselves inching closer and closer to a distant light. The style is unique and very aggressive, as Baron is essentially giving birth to his audience…
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If every there was a film that defined the genre of pulp the most, it would be this. Most pulp films have a black heart, but this film has a black heart that rots and oozes black and white hate throughout the body. The intense blackness comes out of the screen and wrestles you into your seat. Film Noir can be dirty, but this film gets right down in the mud.
While many Noir's, especially studio ones, can be black, they have a studio sheen all over them. Even classics like Night and the City and Double Indemnity feel as if they take place in a foreign world. Blast of Silence takes place in New York City. Not fantasy New…
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A gritty, cold portrayal of New York City in the early 60s. Stylish film-noir with beautiful photography that creates a vivid portrait of a hit man on assignment at Christmastime.
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A forgotten gem, brought back from the dead by Criterion, Allen Baron (director, writer and star) tells the tale of a Cleveland gun for hire, coming back to the Brooklyn of his youth for his latest job. At Christmas.
Blast of Silence is a different kind of noir, and not just because it came out in '61. The most importance difference is the stand-out voice over by Lionel Stander's trademark gravel. It's more like a voice inside Baron's head than anything else. A dark voice. And its' Brooklyn setting is very realistically portrayed, and filmed. Not to mention excellent. So, so bleak, though.
Only weakness in the story is when the self loathing hitman tries to form a bond with a female friend. It's unnecessary and adds nothing. -
Blast of Silence considers itself to be clever due to the fact that it dwells on every single film-noir cliche we've ever seen. Tell me this, if we'd already seen it... why do we want to see it again?
-
If every there was a film that defined the genre of pulp the most, it would be this. Most pulp films have a black heart, but this film has a black heart that rots and oozes black and white hate throughout the body. The intense blackness comes out of the screen and wrestles you into your seat. Film Noir can be dirty, but this film gets right down in the mud.
While many Noir's, especially studio ones, can be black, they have a studio sheen all over them. Even classics like Night and the City and Double Indemnity feel as if they take place in a foreign world. Blast of Silence takes place in New York City. Not fantasy New…
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«And this is it, baby boy Frankie Bono. You're alone now. All alone. The scream is dead. There's no pain. You're home again, back in the cold, black silence.»
Have to admit, Allen Baron is a filmmaker I knew absolutely nothing about before this. Still don't, actually, but this was quite interesting anyhow.
Baron also plays the lead, and it turns out he's just one mole short of being the spitting image of Robert De Niro! But he holds his own, and the film is quite cool. I like voice over in cases like this, when they actually add something which can't easily be seen otherwise, like thoughts not directly linked to the events taking place on screen. And it's…
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Gorgeous, cold, bleak, spare. Anchored by dynamite acting and shot completely on location. NYC has rarely looked so right on. Takes us to Staten Island and the marshes of the Belt Parkway, too. Nobody films on Staten Island, except Brian De Palma. It's 77 minutes of camera and character.
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You're a movie, one of the best they said. You've got a first time director with a vision, a good vision. You're loved by Scorsese they said. You wonder just how much influence you had on Le Samourai by Melville but you don't say nothing, what do you know about French cinema, you're just some little film from New York doing the best you can with a low budget. You're film noir they said, but you were made after A Touch of Evil so you're different to your peers; you've got a jazz score to hide your lack of production sound, you've got a second person narrative written by the blacklisted Waldo Salt and its so hardboiled even you are…
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Really pulpy and awesome. The narration was awesome. The only scene that felt a little strange to me was the one with Frankie and the girl, Lori.
Felt weird.
Otherwise, AWESOME.
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You're a killer
And your only friend
Is my voice and the jazz band
But you're a loner
And you'll always be.