Prince of the City (1981) - a 35mm presentation ▶ KINO

Hoezo in KINO

“I sleep with my wife, but I live with my partners.” With Prince of the City, Lumet revisited the subject matter of Serpico but with a grander and more meticulous approach. A narcotics detective involved in unlawful enrichment is forced to cooperate in an internal investigation against his department, gradually isolating and endangering himself as his colleagues start to feel the heat. This criminally underrated crime epic ranks among the director’s very best work and was rightfully praised by Akira Kurosawa as a masterpiece that uses mise-en-scene to convey the creeping sense of paranoia of the protagonist. Prince of the City is based on the life and career of NYPD detective Robert Leuci and is one of the few New York based movies filmed in all the five boroughs (The Godfather being another). Do not miss out on your new favourite crime flick and experience it on 35mm, as God intended. English language without subtitles.

Credits

Regie: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Treat Williams, Jerry Orbach, Richard Foronjy, Don Billett
Genre: Misdaad, Drama
Speelduur: 167 minuten
Land: VS
Taal: Engels
Ondertiteling: Geen

Storyline

New York police officer Daniel Ciello (Treat Williams) is not a perfect cop. When Rick Cappalino (Norman Parker) from the U.S. Justice Department approaches him with a personal request to investigate police corruption, Ciello agrees — provided he is not forced to turn in his fellow crooked cops. But as he delves deeper into the underbelly of drug crime, he realizes that it may be impossible to keep his promises. He will have to bring his friends down, or he’ll end up going down himself.

KINO is proud to present a retrospective on the features of writer and director Sidney Lumet. The versatile filmmaker worked mainly outside of the Hollywood machine but always secured the greatest talent in front of his camera as his reputation as an ‘actor’s director’ secured no less than seventeen Oscar nominations for his leads. His beloved New York City was often not only a geographical setting but a vital asset in his films as he explored the metropole from its classiest office buildings to its seediest back alleys. Unlike for instance Coppola or Scorsese, Lumet’s oeuvre is less distinctive in style as he always adapted his artistic choices to serve the story, not to his own visual preferences. But he is one of the great humanist directors with a fantastic catalogue waiting to be explored and we are proud to present his biggest hits as well as his lesser known films in this thirteen feature retrospective.

Trailer: Baris Azman