Papp Schnapp's Movie Recaps: Across 110th Street

"You don't know what you'll do until you're put under pressure/Across 110th Street is a hell of a tester"

The lyrics, which play out over Blaxploitation-style credits overlaid on scenes of a car driving through Harlem, may at first listen suggest this is a movie about "gun-totin gangstas" (a notion which the DVD case would have you believe, but more on that later), but those lyrics say so much about the movie you're about to watch compared to the reputation it has. Or hasn't, for that matter.

That car, though you don't know it initially, is actually the fuse being lit for a movie which is in a state of constant explosion. That's not to say it's some Michael Bay-level pyrotechnic fest (although there is a literal explosion more fantastic in its "simplicity" than any million dollar fireball he could ever ejaculate [btw, see Transformers 2!]), but this moofie has the ability to take your breath away and shock you in every sense in almost every scene.

Y'see, the DVD case would have you suggest that this is "Soul Cinema", which is actually just a nice way of saying it's a movie about gangstas, pimps, and honkies. But this is no Coffy (I loved that movie, too). It's a dense, layered drama that unfortunately got lost in the shuffle and as a result is treated the same way as some bargain-bin Sheba, Baby clone (also starring Yaphet Kotto).

The plotting is fantastic, and like I said before, you're in a constant state of being 'at the edge of your seat'. This is helped by the fantastic cinematography, which uses a lot of experimental techniques to show you the action. Por ejemplo: There's a scene where the Harlem mob is torturing a man in a dry cleaner's, but it's done in one shot, and you don't hear what's going on. You're looking into the shop through the display window while a guard patrols the area. It's so fucking brilliant that I cracked my skull from the force of my jaw hitting the floor.

This reminds me of Vertigo ... but with black people.

The narrative takes a look at a botched robbery through the eyes of three different sets of characters, and all get equal screen time and characterization (a feat for a movie that doesn't pass the 100-minute mark). All of the actors in this are absolutely fantastic, and while it seems surprising at first that Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto don't inhabit every scene (another thing to blame on MGM for shitty advertising), there are characters here as compelling (if not moreso) than they are.

So here's a movie that's lost and forgotten, and really doesn't deserve to be. Also, do yourself a favor:

DON'T LOOK AT THE BACK OF THE BOX

Please follow this advice, for reasons I won't make clear due to spoilers. Just... Rent it from Netflix. It's better that way.

This was released the same year as The Godfather, and a year after The French Connection. To say this movie is in the same league as those would be a bold statement. Well, watch this movie, and that eyebrow you have raised at this "blaxploitation cheapie" will sit the fuck down and pay attention to this absolutely, astoundingly, unbelievably, and ultimately amazing film.