On DVD with Lucía at home on 20 June 2008 pretty late in the evening.
A little rough around the edges, this gritty thriller has the visual flair, attention to detail, and rather bizarre acting I’ve come to expect from Jules Dassin. I haven’t really loved any of the Dassin films I’ve seen thus far (except maybe Celui qui doit mourir, but just a little), yet each of his films has been interesting and memorable.
The main character was a bit tough to watch. He was somehow too stupid to live and too arrogant to feel sorry for, and yet most of the characters surrounding him were riveting. While the story itself didn’t hold terribly much interest for me, there is so much going on in the background, and in the relationships between characters, and with the emotions, that I was never bored during the film. It was interesting to see the background story of getting the lucrative first crop of apples to market, of the corrupt fruit dealer whom the other dealers feared and despised and for whom no scam was too dirty, and of the opportunistic veteran driver and his stubborn refusal to split his bounty in exchange for help from the younger drivers who were following him like vultures waiting for his truck to break down (earlier, he had jilted them of the opportunity to share the job). Also interesting was the moral line that one of the younger drivers would cross and the other one would not, splitting up their partnership.
I enjoyed seeing the San Francisco of the 40s. It has changed so much, and yet it still looks familiar.
The apples rolling down the hill…
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