A betrayed, taciturn loner clinically exacts his revenge inJohn Boorman’s POINT BLANK, which stylishly epitomizes the one-man-against-an-evil-organization trope, starring Lee Marvin as the first-name-eluded Walker, one of his most eminent character that taps into the time-honored appeal of wounded masculinity.

Marvin’s star charisma is unequivocally put into great use here with a hard-boiled patina and an aloof containment of cynicism, double-crossed by his best friend Mal Reese (Vernon), who also takes away hiswife Lynne (Acker),Walker’s ascendency as a hell-bent one-track mind strips him of all other earthly trappings (emotion included) but his pecuniary restitution, even the proactive approaching of Lynne’s sultry sister Chris (Dickinson, vamped up with appreciable depth into a seductress’ seesawing psyche) can hardly stir his presence of mind, paired with his astute lucidity when grappling with his sinister but clueless antagonists (crammed with memorable supporting turns like a lecherous sleaze in the form of John Vernon, or a suave but scheming Lloyd Bochner, eventually hoisted by his own petard) in bottom-up expediency, his final wordless fading into the darkness is a trenchant retort to a world suffused with vice and avarice, sardonically, Walker never liquidates anyone with his own hands.

Saliently, Boorman visualizes an unorthodox editing modus operandi to spice up the action, from the treacherous prologue, to its measured ambush with the organization’s supremo, aided by editor Henry Berman’s studious dexterity,it defies audience’s wont viewing habit by strewing the plot with fleeting flashback that impinges on the film's coherence but whips up a quaint tension that strangely buttresses its thinly panned-out story and its Neo-noir mores.

As cool as a cucumber, POINT BLANK pointedly retains its epoch-reflecting atmospherics and vigorous mode, a sound testimony of Boorman’s stupendous versatility and Marvin’s indelible screen incarnation that would emanate huge impact on its many a cinematic progeny, a flinty enforcer whom nothing can hold back.

companion pieces: Don Siegel’s THE KILLERS (1964, 5.3/10); Boorman’s EXCALIBUR (1981, 7.2/10), HOPE AND GLORY (1987, 7.7/10).

正確翻譯：《單刀直入》 異常標(biāo)準(zhǔn)（以至于并不平庸而是優(yōu)秀[outstanding]）且令人愉悅的低俗小說，風(fēng)格絢麗[florid]——第一類是浴缸里液體的特寫、通過燈光進(jìn)行轉(zhuǎn)換的玻璃反射中內(nèi)/外的幻覺，第二類是中部大部分場景都伴有的（偶爾帶有英國式獵奇目光的）裝飾性背景聲部——但遠(yuǎn)不像羅伊格那樣擾亂觀看，算上剪輯風(fēng)格之后完全像一種經(jīng)過裝飾并且結(jié)點(diǎn)處節(jié)拍慢一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的昆汀 · 塔倫蒂諾（后者顯然欠這部電影很多）。低俗之處很多并幾乎美妙，包括Lynne在房間里的偽現(xiàn)代主義獨(dú)白和完全莫名其妙的回憶，Walker上樓的技巧和抓人的手法（立即想起《死吻》），各種人物馬上招供的方式，以及各類可愛的lowbrow對話；你可能覺得游出地獄島也算，但那實際上是隱藏的博爾赫斯元素。處理暴力的方式中透出的干凈時髦（或曰塔倫蒂諾風(fēng)格）可以從革命文本的角度解釋；這也說明多數(shù)當(dāng)時電影（例如完全沒有這一部好的《視差》）中暴力懸于效果渾濁的缺乏自我意識之區(qū)域的問題：我們可以畫出圖表，以佩金帕（不可思議的生理性）和塔倫蒂諾（某種開心地出嫁的智性？）為優(yōu)秀的兩端，中間是越發(fā)渾濁的區(qū)域。Walker帶Chris去伏擊地點(diǎn)酒店直到臺球桌那一段，奇妙地對敘事來說幾乎沒有作用，是具有尼古拉斯 · 雷風(fēng)格和氣勢的偉大漂亮場景。這是一個轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)：在這里我們意識到我們所看到的將不會是我們所想那樣；接下來，你可以說，是深刻有力——我甚至還沒見過這樣——的資本主義批判。 Lee Marvin當(dāng)時四十多歲但化妝得很老，有意思。 A-