De Palma does it Again... And Again

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2010)

The Untouchables is a masterpiece. Every detail is meticulously calculated and revealed, creating a vivid and fascinatingly beautiful picture of a time of extreme violence. Using a smooth, tracking camera, De Palma creates a film that is paradoxically both beautiful and disturbing. This allows him to showcase a basic theme that figures prominently in the entire film: war is hell, even war against crime; it changes people.
The idea of change in man's values through violence can be seen in multiple ways. In the train station shooting scene, a great deal of action takes place in going down the stairway trying to catch a falling baby carriage. This is an obvious nod to the canonical Russian propaganda film Battleship Potemkin. This war motif continues through the whole film, including many references to the classic westerns of the forties, fifties, and sixties. Some call De Palma a plagiarist, but in truth what he does is allude to other works. He is the James Joyce of film.
So, given this, what could make this film better? Well, it could stand for a little trimming in the midsection. The scene in the staircase grows long after a while, drawing the viewer's attention away from the film. Other than that, however, De Palma has produced an excellent and unique film with unusually deep implications.