top of page
Writer's pictureJonathan Gabel

The Hit:1984 - Zen and the Art of Crime.



Stephen Frears and company's 1984 Road-Crime film The Hit could not have come into my life at a more opportune or well-received time. I had never heard of the film before today and had decided to go in blind after what amounted to me picking it out of a crime film filled hat. The film's themes eerily coincided with how easily this film just kind of dropped into my lap and in the end resonated with me deeply. Was this coincidence or providence?


I think your crazy, but I admire your attitude”


The opening of this film with its striking 80's guitar theme, strung by Eric Clapton over the harrowing buzz of a synthesizer, it's gradient sunset, and elevated white font is the most 80's this movie feels for its entire run. The cast list that flashed before my eyes immediately caught my interest. With heavy hitters such as John Hurt, Terence Stamp, and a young Tim Roth.


The contrast after the opening is stark. We find ourselves in a grimy London that looks more at home in the halls of 70's crime films rather than those of the mid 80's. Although, I will say, the 35mm technicolor film has colors popping off from the backdrop of naturalistic lighting to beautiful effect. It cinematography is creative yet in no way distracting. The synth from the opening track remains, setting a haunting tone. But immediately the characters and situations play out in a surrealistic sense. In this opening scene we find Willie Parker, in a bombastic presentation, ratting out his compatriots to escape his life of crime once and for all. They quickly burst into song, like one might see in a Monty Python sketch. The dissonance created is welcome and creates a sense of foreboding. I came to find later that the outburst of singing found in the opening scene was pulled from the true story the screenplay was based on. Which makes sense as it's tone is not found for the rest of the film.


Ten years pass and we find that Willie Parker has relocated to a beautiful villa in Spain. The movie blooms into life here, and it's hard not to find yourself enlivened by the beautiful shots of the Spanish Countryside.


A glowing picture of John Lennon along with piles of books and studies paint a picture of a man truly reformed from crime, whether it began for him as sincere or not. His home feels almost like an idyllic writers paradise. Writing to a fruitful countryside, it felt to me as if the film almost captured the feeling and smell of the air in these shots.


The movie's action kicks off with a home invasion and kidnapping. Willie Parker's past had come back to haunt him in the form of the ever cool Braddock, a role that seems to come effortlessly to John Hurt, and his ever sadistic and garrulous apprentice Myron, played delightfully by Tim Roth. And boy is Braddock played cool. Slicked back hair, a cigarette eternally hanging out of his mouth, as he drives his cream-white 1964 Mercedes-Benz 220 S. It has become a new goal in my life to own both his car and his suit. On top of a suggestion rating I also rate movies based on how badly they make me want a cigarette and this movie had me itchin', baby.


After the unplanned kidnapping of the beautiful and buxom Maggie, played by the real life flamenco dancing legend Laura del Sol, the four hit the road with an unsure destination or plan, and with the cops close behind. The battle of wits begins, and the four are always playing games, games with stakes, and this leaves one to wonder throughout who will end up on top, or if in the end they will all just fall to the cops close on there tail.


While the film is light on action, the scenes that do give us some excitement are quick and bombastic. Creating a nice contrast to the steadied tone of the rest of the film. Tim Roth's fight scene in the bar is one of the best most visceral fight scenes I've seen, and I'd be hard pressed not to call it a classic.



The Hit is a film that doesn't hold your hand and treats you like an adult. It's got a delightfully simple yet broad scored done beautifully on the flamenco guitar by arguably the greatest of all time in his field, Paco de Lucia. The strings almost carry you along like a Hitchcock film, classical in there style and intimate in there construction. In fact the movie often feels beautifully out of time. And this is a film that knows how to use sound, silence and wind factor in heavily to let scenes sit before the guitar kicks back in.


Every criminal in The Hit is refreshingly unlikable, even the supposed protagonist Willie Parker, even if at times you want to like him due to his charm, gravitas, and class. They all do realistic and despicable things, but are also capable of playing around like jesters with a zeal for adventure. The three leads thoroughly held my attention, even if there was little talking occurring between them. In many ways it is a battle of wits rather than a battle of guns.



The aftermath of each crime is often left for us to discover along with the police. Creating a disconnect between the acts and the criminals who have committed them. Dropping into our laps the violence's we so want to forget while enjoying these characters witticisms and criminal adventures.


The movie gives a beautiful sense of scope to every city this criminal party comes too. We are given a tableau of people and cultures and watch as these three rogue bullets run through the heart of each one. And it feels as if each location was chosen with care. One that especially stuck out to me was the background of white windmills on the Spanish countryside that couldn't help but push me to think of Don Quixote and the battling of imaginary evils.


This is a film that likes to turn the Crime genre on its head. Delivering characters who analyze both themselves and each other. Calling into question each of there roles in this story. I can see the influence on Tarantino in this film. The intimate inner lives of gangsters, watching them play out the minutia of every day life we don't usually see on the big screen. The shooting the shit, the stopping to piss. It brings a joviality to a genre usually bogged down with seriousness.


I’m not scared” “You’ve gotta be!” “Why? Because everyone else is?”




I admire the directors decision to cast the usually evil portraying Terence Stamp in the protagonist role and giving the role of the heavy to John Hurt. It's an inspired casting choice. At the heart of this movie is Terence Stamps Zen cool, which seems to span history and drives home the focus the movie has on the journey of life, which is mirrored metaphorically through this road trip with a very real end.

Two scenes stand out to me. One in the woods before their final stop, Terence Stamp's Willie Parker stands against a myriad of waterfalls. The locale is tranquil and Willie sits like a Buddha as the dramas unfold. He looks back at Braddock and for a moment you see on John Hurt's face that he knows this serious charade isn't all that serious after all. It's just a play.

The second is on the final day. Willie wakes up a man of peace, you can see it bleeding out of his soft eyes. He still believes he has a day to live. Not realizing that today is “tomorrow”. That look of peace drains quickly, leaving a quivering fear. He shows himself not as an enlightened fearless Buddha, but once again as a human. Playing his role.

Which begs me to ask the question: If all men are Buddha's, does this also mean that all Buddha's are also men? Does it betray the Buddha nature to desire more? Did not even Jesus tremble in the garden?


Suggestion: Highly Suggested.

Cigarette Rating: Itchin' 4/5



110 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page