Carlito’s Way

Thursday, March 26, 2015

SOLD OUT! Post-film discussion with longtime De Palma editor Bill Pankow, moderated by special guest host Stephanie Zacharek, chief film critic for the Village Voice! Studio archive 35mm print

Named the Best Film of the 1990s by Cahiers du Cinema “Embodied by Al Pacino with a rare, melancholy dash, Carlito Brigante, going straight after five years in the joint, tries to run a disco and navigate New York’s mean streets, circa 1975. Carlito is a blend of two archetypes: the aging gangster who dreams of escaping the city with his true love (a dancer-actress turned stripper, Penelope Ann Miller) and the veteran Western gunslinger who ignores the threat of the young gun in town (the volatile, scary John Leguizamo). What makes the material feel new is Carlito’s unpredictable chemistry with his lawyer, Davey Kleinfeld (Sean Penn). Carlito doesn’t realize that the coke-addled Kleinfeld is as ruthless as any gangland enemy. Penn, in curled hair and wire-rims, makes a brilliant, slippery high-end shyster; his modulated hysteria is amazing. So is Brian De Palma’s direction. Few films actually made in the disco era can match the kinetic allure of this 1993 production, which has a bluesy undertow all its own. De Palma’s nerve-wracking and elegant set pieces include a climax that suggests what Orson Welles could have done with a Steadicam. David Koepp wrote the beautifully structured script, from two novels by Edwin Torres.” – The New Yorker

• Country USA
• Rating R
• Year 1993
• Running Time 141 minutes
• Director Brian De Palma

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