Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

evanston_dad Oooph, this movie hurts.Film buffs can find evidence of schizophrenia in any movie decade, but perhaps none more so than in the 1950s and 1960s. It is nearly inconceivable to me that "The Pawnbroker" came out in the year that "The Sound of Music" won the Best Picture Academy Award. Don't get me wrong, I very much like "The Sound of Music" too, but it almost seems like it was made in a different century compared to this film.Rod Steiger was justly nominated for and wrongly lost the Academy Award for his performance in "The Pawnbroker," as a concentration camp survivor who has lost all faith in humanity and sees people as no more or less valuable than the possessions they come to him to pawn. The film was directed by Sidney Lumet, and it creates the same sweaty, grimy atmosphere that Lumet would occasionally revisit (like in his 1975 film "Dog Day Afternoon") and that Martin Scorsese made a career of throughout the 1970s. It's a bleak film, one that uses the horrors of the Holocaust to shape its main character's psyche without giving him or the audience any real hope for his future. It's a film that suggests that the Holocaust broke something fundamental in human nature that will never be repaired. It's a message at odds with so many films that try to find closure or hope or at the very least a lesson to be learned from such a dark chapter of history, and it makes "The Pawnbroker" feel years ahead of its time.The film is also trailblazing in its acknowledgement of blacks and homosexuals at a time when the former were the subject of mostly preachy white guilt movies that starred Sidney Poitier and the latter were not to be found in films pretty much anywhere. In "The Pawnbroker," both exist without commentary; they're just part of the world Rod Steiger's character lives in, as disenfranchised from the rest of humanity in their own way as he is. It's rather remarkable that the film includes so many black and gay characters without the film being ABOUT black and gay characters. The casual inclusion of them is a greater statement for the time than a movie about them would have been.This is by no means a pleasant film to watch, but it is an awfully good one, and one that may very well leave you shaken.Grade: A

Winduct ''The Pawnbroker'' is a gripping and somewhat controversial for its time film about a Jewish genocide survivor struggling to adapt in society while facing his personal traumas. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film is an outstanding character study with a magnificent performance from its lead.Lumet's direction has been often criticized for incorporating a rapid flashback editing influenced from the French New Wave. This is true, as the film's editing proves to be very annoying with its sudden and unexpected cuts which somehow block the characters from developing their performances further as well distracting the audience from the film's force. Most scenes are cut short, or at least shorter than they should have been which limits the audience from immersing themselves into the characters' situations. It could be said that the experimental editing doesn't work out and chokes the film rather than letting the story progress. Despite the messy editing, Lumet directs the film meticulously and manages to bring to life a truly heartbreaking story with great realism and suspense.Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin, who worked on the adaptation, do a very good job on capturing the original novel's essence, paying close attention to each character's development, meaning that all characters are very well written instead of being just ''creatures'' as Nazerman (Steiger) sees them.Concerning the technical aspects, the film works very well with its minimalistic sets and decoration, giving the audience a firm representation of reality. As mentioned above, the editing is messy but the film's black and white cinematography (praise goes to Boris Kaufman) contributes essentially to the film by revealing the main protagonist's inner psychology (Nazerman is still imprisoned by his traumas which is implied by the shadows of the bars which fall on his face at the pawn shop). Quincy Jones' score, in short, is distracting and unfitting. He uses a jazzy score which seems out of place and kills the film's suspense. While the film itself succeeds in seizing the audience's attention, Jones' score does the exact opposite. It's not a bad musical score but certainly a strange and unfitting one for the film which turns out as a very bad selection.Leaving the best for last, Steiger delivers one of the finest performances in cinematic history. Watching the film ,it's truly hard to believe that Steiger is actually acting since he is overwhelmingly believable and honest in everything he does: from his facial expressions to the way we walks, Steiger is spellbinding, making us feel the pain he has been bearing. From the first moment he appears on screen, he truly makes us believe that this character has been through a lot of difficulties and by the end of the film we've seen how much Steiger has transformed into this man who has lost everything and how far he has gone as an actor. It's one of those performances which make you shiver when you see him suffer because it's performed in such a realistic and sincere way. Simply a towering performance by Steiger in a career-turning role.''The Pawnbroker'' is considered to be a rather significant film in American history, being the first to deal with the Jewish genocide from the viewpoint of a survivor. It serves as a deep examination of a character's psychology and tackles a very devastating and sensitive subject. But above all, it is Steiger's supreme performance which makes this film unforgettable.

Lee Eisenberg Sidney Lumet is probably best known for movies like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network", but another really good film that he directed is "The Pawnbroker". This one stars Rod Steiger as concentration camp survivor Sol Nazerman, now running a pawnshop in East Harlem. The horror that Sol witnessed has left him embittered. Moreover, he has not escaped violence: the streets of New York see no shortage of gang warfare. A major focus is how, despite his alienation from the world, Sol tries to explain the ramifications of what happened to the young Puerto Rican who idolizes him.It's fairly well known that Groucho Marx wanted the role of Sol. I don't know exactly how the movie would have come out had he played the role -- although it might have been a little harder to take seriously -- but Steiger is perfect as the man still trying to put his life back together. A very good one. I recommend it.Watch for a young Morgan Freeman as the man on the street.

George Wright A powerful but grim movie about a Harlem pawnbroker terrorized by memories of the Nazi death camps, this is an excellent drama enhanced by a brilliant cast, on-location shooting in New York and at the end, a surprisingly strong note of compassion. As the movie opens, we see Rod Steiger unwinding on a lawn chair in post-war Long Island, with its tidy homes and lawns. His sister in law tries to talk him into a trip to Europe but the morose Steiger has no use for a trip that would only remind him of the stench of death. He has flashbacks to the horrors he endured. These scenes continue to mar his life as we see men and women being brutalized and witness their barbed wired surroundings as prisoners of Nazi Germany. Steiger, as the death camp survivor, delivers a superb performance as the man haunted by the memories of his wife and children whose lives were cut short while he was spared, only to live with the bitterness that made his own life so sad. The customers at his pawn shop in Harlem get the cold, calculating treatment from this broken man as they try to cope with their own meagre means of subsistence. Geraldine Fitzgerald plays the role of a social worker who tries to befriend him and meets with the same cold shoulder. I have seen this actress in other movies but was never so impressed with her, as in this movie. Towards the end, Steiger turns to her for company and understanding, as he deals with the thugs he allows to use his shop for their own nefarious deeds in exchange for money. A young Puerto Rican assistant tries to learn the trade from his boss. Steiger takes the time to coach him and seems to get some satisfaction from this relationship. Only much later does he realize how much the assistant cared for him. The customers are mild, gentle people trying to eke out whatever they can get from this hard, bitter man. The film-making conveys great realism. We see Steiger walk through Times Square with the marquee for Leslie Caron in the L-Shaped Room, one of the movies of the time. We hear the rumble of the elevated train as it makes its way through the neighborhood. The character actors in supporting roles are excellent and add to the overall impact of this drama.This movie is not about the Holocaust as such, but the viewer can see the impact of the horrors on one man and how it affected his life and those around him. The emotional trauma did not allow him to respond to the acts of kindness that he received. Finally, he had to deal with one heroic deed that was completely unexpected. How he carried on, we cannot know but we can see that his world did not completely reject him, although he tried to reject it. We can understand that he is a victim of a great atrocity.This movie was directed by the recently-deceased Sidney Lumet, who even Martin Scorsese said was the quintessential New York director. This movie takes a universal theme and gives it a great backdrop. This is one of the finest, realist films I have ever seen. A highly personal encounter with a great tragedy.