Cruising (1980)

I've been wanting to see this film for about a year. I first heard about it and haven't ceased to hear about it since I started listening to Mark Kermode's film Podcast. His enthusiasm for anything Friedkin does is unparalleled but it's Cruising, along with the obvious, The Exorcist (1973), that really tops the lot.

I really enjoyed it, as far as a straight forward serial killer movie this one is pretty much up there. The angle? Beat cop Al Pacino is sent undercover to infiltrate the "urban world of gay S&M bars in order to track down the killer". Pacino shows a surprising amount of enthusiasm for the role and the films narrative henceforth begins. Direct correlations can be drawn with the wonderful British I.D. in which undercover police officer John (Reece Dinsdale) must infiltrate the violent world of football hooliganism. Both characters experience a huge amount of change as they try to adapt to their new roles whilst still trying to hold onto what is expected of them. In Pacino's case it is his girlfriend Nancy (the wonderful Karen Allen, most famous for her role in The Raiders of the Lost Arc (1981)) who struggles to keep the relationship together. Pacino promises to tell Nancy everything but only once the investigation is over. During this time he must confront and deal with various precarious situations whereby both his general and sexual identity is on the line.

Aesthetically the film looks great. It features that awesome 80's feel that we have become accustomed to through films like The Terminator (1984). Pacino is brilliant as Burns, a cop tortured between two realities.