Truly A Sparkling Diamond!

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2002)

"When you love someone, you've got to trust her, there's no other way. Otherwise what's the point? For a while, I believed that's the kind of love I had...." just then, Sam Rothstein was thrown into the bonfire caused by the explosion of his car. As the extremely sorrowful melody of Bach's St. Matthews Passion slowly brought us into the fanscinating world, where it's the paradise for gamblers, drug dealers, prostitutes, gangsters and killers - Les Vages, 1973, the story unveils...
This film is not just a crime drama, but indeed a tragedy as well. I know that De Niro, Pesci and Scorsese have made crime films together, "Goodfellas" for example. However, I don't really have anything to say about De Niro and Pesci, since I'm not their fan and haven't really watched a lot of their films. I only know that they both are pretty serious actors and have played killers or leaders of the underworld. But I do admire the talent of Martin Scorsese. This one and art film "The Age of Innocence", which he directed and made uncredited cameo appearance. He skillfully directed both films with different styles, and has made both of them wonderful!

I remember I was still pretty young when this film was released. And I couldn't stay in the theater to finish it because of all the dirty languages and cruel shooting and violence. But years later, when I found this film in the local video store, I rent it and this time, I could appreciate and understand this film much better. I was amazed by the flawless, perfect direction of Martin Scorsese, and especially by the powerful, excellent performance of Sharon Stone! This is undoubtedly the best performance of her career! And a must-see for her fans! Golden Globe and The Academy Award nomination that she won for this is the best proof of her success!