Carlito Brigante is fresh out of prison and resolved to go straight. He wants to leave his former life behind him. But when your name carries the cache of the street, trouble has a way of finding you.
Carlito meets his little cousin Guajiro to go for a family meal but along the way Guajiro persuades him to come with him on an errand. He knows it's a bad idea but the call of the wild is just too much for him and he acquiesces knowing how much it will mean to his cuz and knowing that the strength of his name will help things go more smoothly. Or so he thinks....
What a fantastic couple of minutes. Director Brian De Palma builds the tension exquisitely cutting between the front and the back of the room. We know something is off. Carlito's knows it too. It's 4 against 1. He's a wise ol' gangster with plenty of experience behind him. His determination to avoid crime means he doesn't have a gun. He's the weakest in the room. The only way out of this is to catch everyone off guard. A bit of pool magic will do the trick. The blood red glow off the bar light is discomfiting. The tempo of the music matching the rocketing heart rates in the room. What's he going to do? Then all of a sudden it's brutal. We see the knife wielding gangster in the background striding across the room like something out of a horror film as Carlito's muscle memory kicks in. Everything is over in 10 seconds. All that's left is smoke and blood. The old gangster is back. He knows what power is. He knows his words are as good as any bullet. This is the moment we realise he's never going to go straight.
A brilliant scene. Exhilarating and ultimately tragic. Carlito has once again tarnished his soul.
Hello. remarkable job. I did not anticipate this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a remarkable story. Thanks!