Kurai Tsuki
28th March 2004, 22:06
I love seeing works of both fiction and non fiction where the content is presented in as blunt a form as possible, and I think this is the case with Death Wish. Although some may accuse this film's makers of exploiting peoples' fear of criminals I think that the director was simply trying to be realistic, this way the viewer can get an idea of what it is like to be a victim of violent crime, be it yourself or a family member. Also, I'm sure that there are things happening in real life that are far worse that what has been shown in this film, but that's a different issue. This is why the rape scene, brutal as it may have been, was a necessity to set this film apart as a realistic action/vigilante film.
Another interesting thing about Death Wish is that the protagonist does not seem like a person who would be an vigilante, he's a middle aged man who is, dare I say, gentle. But when rape and murder hit his family he does not know what to do, especially when the police do not seem able to help at all. And so after receiving a pistol from a newly made cowboy type friend in the Southwest he begins to walk the streets awaiting the latest mugger attack so that he can properly undertake the capping of their behinds. This is one of the unique features of the first Death Wish compared to its sequels, Paul Kersey does not know who he is hunting, and so he simply caps whosoever should try to mug him. But in the sequels he knows exactly who he is searching for.
I also liked the action in this movie. It seemed to me that what Paul Kersey lacked in physical finesse he made up for in marksmanship. I particularly liked the scene where the two men follow him into the tunnel from the café and he has to fend off two men with knives at close range with a pistol. Even the slightest wrong move on the part of Kersey would have meant his doom.
Death Wish is a film of relief for those who have completely lost their patience with crime waves. It doesn't show muggers and rapists as victims of society, but as people who are able to exist freely in it. The film is correct in showing that so many of these criminals can do whatever they want and walk freely; statistically, only one out of every sixteen rapists will ever spend a day in jail. But it does fail statistically, as more sexual assaults are perpetrated on young women by people they know rather than by strangers, but that too is another issue.
Another interesting thing about Death Wish is that the protagonist does not seem like a person who would be an vigilante, he's a middle aged man who is, dare I say, gentle. But when rape and murder hit his family he does not know what to do, especially when the police do not seem able to help at all. And so after receiving a pistol from a newly made cowboy type friend in the Southwest he begins to walk the streets awaiting the latest mugger attack so that he can properly undertake the capping of their behinds. This is one of the unique features of the first Death Wish compared to its sequels, Paul Kersey does not know who he is hunting, and so he simply caps whosoever should try to mug him. But in the sequels he knows exactly who he is searching for.
I also liked the action in this movie. It seemed to me that what Paul Kersey lacked in physical finesse he made up for in marksmanship. I particularly liked the scene where the two men follow him into the tunnel from the café and he has to fend off two men with knives at close range with a pistol. Even the slightest wrong move on the part of Kersey would have meant his doom.
Death Wish is a film of relief for those who have completely lost their patience with crime waves. It doesn't show muggers and rapists as victims of society, but as people who are able to exist freely in it. The film is correct in showing that so many of these criminals can do whatever they want and walk freely; statistically, only one out of every sixteen rapists will ever spend a day in jail. But it does fail statistically, as more sexual assaults are perpetrated on young women by people they know rather than by strangers, but that too is another issue.