DasGlasperlenspiel

The initial situation of the film is unique. An honorable Soviet militia officer tries to solve a triple murder in Moscow in the early 1980s. His opponents are the KGB, shady black market traders and smooth foreign businessmen. But in Moscow it is deep winter. And people rush through the streets, metro stations and squares in thick coats and deeply wrapped up against the cold. Solely motivated by the thought of crossing the gray dreariness of these public squares on the way home as quickly as possible. A perfect background for a thriller, with chases in the dark and action scenes in shabby stairwells, don't you think? And of course that's how it happens. The finale alone is a bit flat and doesn't do the film justice. Overall, however, highly recommended.

In my opinion this is Brian de Palma's best mafia movie. I rank it above 'Scarface'. The film is excellently cast, right down to the many supporting roles. I only now noticed that Viggo Mortensen, who was relatively unknown at the time, was also there. And Sean Penn perhaps plays his best role as a coke-smoking, errant Jewish lawyer. But it's actually the story of Al Pacino as a former gangster who tries almost desperately to get away from his criminal past and yet the deeper he becomes entangled, the more he tries to become honest. While the narrative pace is moderate in the first half, it becomes more and more turbulent in the second and builds to a truly magnificent finale. And what would a good mafia film be without multiple betrayals? This is simply well told and staged.