Brilliant pictures

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2000)

WARNING! SPOILER!
One of the features of The Untouchables that struck me the most, and keeps striking me after seeing it three times, is the brilliant cinematography. Take for example the roof-scne, in which Ness eventually throws Nitti off the rooftop. Ness looks over the ledge, and we, through his eyes, see the dead Nitty in a cab. Here we have a beautiful picture: four identical, shining cabs, one of which has been wrecked by Nitti's body. DePalma takes the time to let us take this image in, the still lasts for at least a few seconds, or so it seems... The fact that there are four cabs, and not just one, is also very important, I think. It makes Nitti's fall through the roof of the last cab logical and acceptable. More often than not a character falls from a ledge onto a passing truck or a lonely car. Exciting, but stupid. You're always left to wonder what the car was doing there, on the right moment, on the right place. These instances are always too coincidental, but here we have an instant explanation. Nitti fell on a parking space for cabs. Logical and enthralling. The Untouchables is full of these well-thought out, almost serene moments, which for this reason alone for me makes it a film that can be watched over and over again.
By the way: in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Conan O'Brian jumps out of a window, onto a parked car. A little intstance of cinematograpohic intertextuality?