A Palme d’Or Winner In 1973, yet all but forgotten about today, director Jerry Schatzberg’s idiosyncratic buddy movie concerns a pair of drifters – angry ex-con Max (Gene Hackman) and former sailor ‘Lion’ (Al Pacino) – who meet whilst hitching a ride in remote California.
Like John Huston’s similarly undervalued Fat City , it’s strong on the details of itinerant life, and allows plotting to take a back seat to character.
Here digitally restored, Vilmos Zsigmond’s superb lensing shines through – but it’s the two vibrant leads who most command attention.
