Pickup on South Street

I imagine that this is how Port of Shadows might have looked if it had been directed by Samuel Fuller. Pickup on South Street is a crime story conveyed directly and engagingly with a few characters and several interiors. The shots speak through their composition, with lively camerawork. The objective is clear, yet essentially unimportant. This is about people. About the cops facing the red menace and who are not strangers to the methods of the underworld: in order to appease the paranoia of the time, they will have to reassess the common understanding of justice a few times. It’s about small-time crooks who want to step up to the big leagues. They have guns and charisma, but without a little luck, they won’t reach the next level. The air grows heavy with the sweat and the presentiment of sex that arises from the ambiguous, suggestive dialogue. They treat women with an attitude of “beat and let beat”. No honour, fair play or sincere friendship. They are only small players on a big field. Just as Pickup on South Street is a small film of great quality. 80% (15/07/2011)

Directed at a relentless pace, this noir entertains above all in the way it deftly uses the role of the femme fatale to weave together the three sides of the male conflict, and in the way it violently brushes her off, making her a tool of the others for most of the runtime. I didn't like the romantic line at all, it looked very unrealistic, but on the other hand, I really liked Jean Peters's face and the dramatically escalated rhythm of the narrative, with the pocket-picking motif imaginatively incorporated and punctuated. The good old-school. (31/03/2018)

It's quite an intense film noir, fairly fast-paced, not letting you catch your breath as you enjoy it all the way to the end like a ride towards something quite dark. It’s an interesting concept about how easy it is to lose something important and the consequences it can have on people who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. (27/11/2014)