1990 Directed by Abel Ferrara
A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.
Christopher Walken David Caruso Laurence Fishburne Victor Argo Wesley Snipes Janet Julian Joey Chin Giancarlo Esposito Paul Calderon Steve Buscemi Theresa Randle Leonard L. Thomas Roger Guenveur Smith Carrie Nygren Ernest Abuba Ariane Harold Perrineau Gerard Murphy Vanessa Angel Frank Aquilino David Batiste Michael Battin Frankie Cee Lia Chang Endira Erica Gimpel Frank Gio Jack Goode Jr. Lance Guecia Show All…
"I thought people like me were the legal system."
One of the seminal films of the 1990's...almost perfect as a stylistic exercise yet concurrently filled with such political commitment that it's simply overwhelming. Everything Ferrara hates is in this movie, including it's form which he criticizes in the commentary. "This is so uptight I can't even breathe. I'm glad I made this film because I would never make a film like this again. This is fascistic filmmaking." He's partially right, the film is incredibly tight, so tight that nearly every shot, every cut, every object has a specific purpose and function. It's some of the most "perfect" mis-en-scene I've ever witnessed, even down to the sheen on the wineglasses near…
Abel Ferrara's best looking film. It's a film of dualities.
The photography captures the contrasts of the decadence of elite Manhattanite dwellings to the filth of the streets. Ferrara's direction teases out the similarities between the two vastly different settings. Then he paints both worlds with a thick coat of sleaze and corruption.
Scenes are filled with well dressed men who suddenly explode into violence, their blood a fresh color on the grim tapestry of the city. The cops who are willing to bend and break the law. The crooks who clean up the streets by force. By the time it ends the moral lines have blurred.
Walken looks skeletal, ghostly. His face is gaunt and plastered with subtle expression.…
You could imagine during production that Abel Ferrara must have felt that his stylized neon saturated gangster film, complete with his biggest budget thus far, may prove to be his most mainstream and accessible feature, harking back as it did to the similar celluloid criminal mayhem that James Cagney would feature in in earlier days.
But upon its release in 1990, critics and audiences alike didn't see it that way at all. They gave it a resounding thumbs down, whilst some even booed the cast at screenings and demanded the profit went to drug rehab programmes in the titular city. Such reactions only further served the notoriety of Ferrara as an enfant terrible of American indie cinema scene. And so…
i never got away with anything.
Furious. Imagine seeing your mistakes in the toilet bowl every time you pissed, your own distorted face reflecting in the yellow-tinted not-enough-water just-been-dispatched fluid.
Ferrara often uses New York as a place for stories to launch from but never quite like this has the city become a catalyst for the head-splitting divide between situation and behavior or person and action or rise and fall. Violence has no real weight in the first half of this film ("ROOM SERVICE MOTHERFUCKERS!") mostly because violence has no gravitas or bearing on how the characters respond to their predicaments except as a dispensable/superfluous action in order to elevate the false facade of status they present to the rest…
Somewhere in here is a 90s essential crime film with an incredibly rich aesthetic. Questionable editing choices, poor sound mixing, and a mediocre narrative flow keep it from becoming an unmissable classic.
Заглавный Фрэнк Уайт живет у всех на виду в трамповском отеле «Плаза» с ледяной крутизной тончайшей выделки Кристофера Уокена. Туда же зовет приниматься к себе на работу уличную шпану. Кто-то ж должен делать черновую работу, ведущую Уайта к цели. Классическая «королевская» тема композитора Джо Делия смикширована с уличным хип-хопом. У Феррары лучшие в мире съемки ночного Нью-Йорка. И самые благородные в мире гангстеры, мечтающие пожить годок-другой, чтобы непременно успеть сделать что-нибудь хорошее. Но у полиции своя правда-матка и видение проблемы. Фильм нужно увидеть хотя бы ради финальной сцены на Таймс-сквер: локальный затор, сползающиеся отовсюды силы правопорядка и одинокий король на заднем сиденьи такси.
Sometimes stylized violence perfectly works within a film, and sometimes not. This is one of those cases where it works brilliantly. I love the way all the shootouts were … shot, and even the car chase across what I believe was the Queensboro Bridge worked pretty well.
Christopher Walken is fascinating to watch, giving a great performance, as does Victor Argo opposite him. I think it is actually this aspect of the film I like most - that of the very thin line separating the enterprises of the police from those of the ‘baddies’ (the criminal from the lawful in other words), and how that line is crossed repeatedly (until completely erased) by both parties.
This is uh, prob one of the best films ever made? idk. The idealisation of the American mobster/cop-hatred justified, taken to its logical conclusion and, ultimately, complicated to leave its audience with no clear answers and no heroes to hold onto - kind of like a smart, ethical reverse Shield with Walken, Buscemi, Morpheus, Blade, Caruso and a host of other familiar character actors.
Ferrara delves deep into the filth and grime of New York City, lovingly aetheticising it in a way that only he knows how to pull off and gives me more than enough air punch moments that instantly fuck with you (why are the deranged, amoral killings of a maniac so satisfying?) to instantly catapult it into all-time fave status.
1. A strange snapshot of mob life. What is not shown is how Frank White became what he is. All that matters is regaining the title, power, and money that was his at his peak.
2. Some of the action is poorly put together, and one of the car chases is incomprehensible at points. This makes for lively and vigorous viewing, and a genuinely exciting mis-en-scene. Everything is out of balance, even for the viewer.
3. Wild dialogue at points.
Abel Ferrara’s excessive and beautiful take on Robin Hood feels like a Michael Mann film with extra blood and guts.
The excess is absolutely insane, on the level of Robocop or Casino.
Christopher Walken is now 75 years old gawd bless him. He works constantly and even in some of the turds he appears in, he gives a great performance.
King of New York is the most removed from a turd that it could be. It's an outstanding movie and Walken is at the the top of his game. Add to that a supporting cast which includes Victor Argo, Larry Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, David Caruso and Steve Buscemi, plus some great New York City location work "I'm at the Plaza!!!" and you have an absolute treat.
ROOM SERVICE MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!
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