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The Big Heat | Year: 1953 Classification: Action/Adventure Directed: - Fritz Lang Actors/Actresses: - Glenn Ford - Gloria Grahame The Most Powerful Crime Movie Ever Made In spite of the low profile it got at its initial release in the 50's, in spite of the modest budget and production value, THE BIG HEAT, with his already highly acclaimed M, is Fritz Lang's greatest film, and one of the highest achievement of cinema. The stunning opening sequence, depicting a police officer's suicide and its aftermath, is a great example of efficiency cinematic narrative, so are the 85 minutes that follow. Lang fills this film with powerful shots and speedy editing, never afraid to show heightened violence when the story needs to. Many heated action sequences are handled with impressive masterly. Unlike in the movies in which Lang used famous Hollywood star (and the majority of them could not cope with the severeness of his direction), Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame show powerful, convincing performances fused with emotion. Also featured are Lee Marvin and Janet Nolan, as the "bad guys" and are equally great. But what makes THE BIG HEAT such a great film is the fact that it is a profoundly humanist and moral film. As many of Lang's American films does, THE BIG HEAT depicts the corruption of the modern society. In fact, he never been as good as this in showing the system of how our society functions: a newspaper headline, or even a telephone call may be more powerful than guns and bullets, punches and tortures. The sophisticated syndicate functions not with violence, but with the information of violence. At the same time, Lang chose the protagonist of the film to be a truly good human being, not a perfect super hero, but a cop who is convinced to do an honest job, and ready to fight for this cause in spite of all the corruptions that surround him. At one point of the story, he is almost convinced that he is set alone against the entire world which is corrupted. He comes very close to be obsessed by hatred towards other men. But then he finds out that he can believe in people, that in spite of the harsh reality of the world which obliges them to lie, to play D-and-D, to be corrupted to save their own neck and wealthy life, in most people there are also a desire to be a good human being. THE BIG HEAT marks the almost only occasion that Lang, the master of pessimistic visions of 20th century, is himself not at all a pessimist, but a believer in human kind. Very Different Noir, Brutal and Uncompromising! Basically a tough and compelling police melodrama. Lang adds tension and some scenes have become little gems, but he doesn't capture the atmosphere and essence of 'Noir'. The plot about corruption and greed is very tame by today's standards and time has taken away much of the impact. This will a lSmall>http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002DRDLO.01.THUMB e. Buy The Big Heat at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Big Heat Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Big Heat This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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