Serpico

Serpico (1973) is about a police officer who exposed widespread corruption in the New York force, and the man is real. Frank Serpico does not fit from his first day. He changes his uniform, grows a beard, goes to the ballet, and stays out of his colleagues' conversations. Before long he sees the system: regular payments are taken from bookmakers, shops and drug dealers, and the share is distributed through the whole precinct. He refuses to take the money. That is where the trouble begins. A man who does not take it is a threat to those who do; nobody trusts him and it is the same wherever he is transferred. For years he goes to his superiors, to the prosecutors and to city hall, and nobody acts. Eventually he speaks to a newspaper and it becomes a commission of inquiry. In 1971 he was shot in the face during a drug raid. He went through the door first, the two officers with him hung back, and none of his colleagues called for help; a neighbour did. He carried the bullet in his face and was left permanently deaf in one ear. Sidney Lumet directed. It was not shot in sequence; Pacino grew and cut his beard for the scenes, and the character's change over the years is delivered that way. It was filmed on the streets of New York, in real locations. Pacino was nominated for best actor. The real Serpico left the country after testifying and lived in Switzerland for years. It runs 130 minutes. Good for: police drama, seventies American cinema, and true events. Less good for: the pace is slow and the film offers no victory.