The honor of the Prizzis

Movie
German title	The honor of the Prizzis
Original title	Prizzi's Honor
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1985
length	130 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	John Huston
script	Richard Condon ; Janet Roach
production	John Foreman
music	Alex North
camera	Andrzej Bartkowiak
cut	Kaja Fehr ; Rudi Fehr
occupation
	Jack Nicholson : Charley Partanna; Kathleen Turner : Irene Walker; Robert Loggia : Eduardo Prizzi; Anjelica Huston : Maerose Prizzi; John Randolph : Angelo Partanna; William Hickey : Don Corrado Prizzi; Lawrence Tierney : Lt. Hanley; CCH Pounder : Peaches Altamont; Lee Richardson : Dominic Prizzi;

The Honor of the Prizzis is an American black comedy film from 1985. Directed by John Huston and starring Jack Nicholson , Kathleen Turner and Anjelica Huston .

action

The film satirizes the everyday life of the Prizzi Mafia family. As a professional killer, Charley Partanna solves the problems of the head of the family, Don Corrado Prizzi, who as godfather has not yet completely transferred his rule to his sons Dominic and Eduardo Prizzi. Charley's ex-girlfriend, Maerose, daughter of grumpy, clumsy Dominic, was once disowned by her father after escaping to Mexico with a young man after an argument with Charley. At that time Dominic brought her back to New York, but Maerose is only allowed to enter the Prizzis' territory for occasions such as funerals and weddings.

Charley and Maerose meet again at a wedding reception. But he turns to the handsome Irene Walker and flirts with her until she suddenly leaves the party. A little later, Charley is suspected by the police of having shot a man who is said to have annoyed the Prizzis on the day of the wedding. But since he has witnesses for his presence at the wedding reception, he is released.

Charley, who thinks he has discovered feelings for Irene, goes looking for her. He finds her in Los Angeles and confesses his love to her. She reciprocates the confession of love and tells him that her husband left her four years ago. At a second meeting, the two decide to get married as soon as possible. Charley's next assignment brings the two back together. Dominic assigns him to kill the masterminds of a casino fraud in which the Prizzis have lost a large sum and to get the money back. After he shot one of the fraudsters, the terminally ill accountant Marxi Heller, Irene of all people burst into the action. Marxi was her husband; she had taken care of him because he was suffering from tuberculosis and had only a few weeks to live. Irene hands Charley half of the money from the casino fraud because her husband did not get more than that sum.

Back in New York, Charley shows his old father, a good friend of Don Corrado's, photos of his loved ones and reveals his wedding plans to him. The father in turn explains to him that Irene is a contract killer, the very one who committed the murder on the day of the wedding party. Nevertheless, the two marry and spend their honeymoon in Brooklyn. However, the night before the wedding, Charley slept one last time with Maerose Prizzi.

During the days in Brooklyn, at a sign from Don Corrado, they kidnap a banker who harms the Prizzis with his business. But the job is not going according to plan; a woman who happens to appear is also shot. She is, however, the wife of a police chief, which seriously affects the business of the New York mafiosi. The pressure on Charley increases when Maerose succeeds in joining the family. In exchange for money, she receives the information from a prostitute that Irene Walker had killed the partner of the casino accountant Marxi Heller and had fled with all the money stolen from the Prizzis. She passes this information on to Don Corrado. She wants to get Irene, who stole Charley from her, to give up the money and pay for it.

The newly married couple, meanwhile, suspect that the Prizzis are up to something. In addition, Dominic wants to get Charley out of the way because he slept with his daughter again. As a contract killer he hires Irene of all people, without knowing her identity. After she tells Charley about it, they both realize that Brooklyn has become too dangerous for them.

Don Corrado has since decided that his son Dominic is too old for the business; he gives him a house in Las Vegas with his own golf course. Dominic's farewell party is overshadowed by an attack by Charley. The very next day Dominic is shot dead by one of Charley's assistants. But the Don wants to come to an agreement with Charley. He suggests that he take the lead of the Prizzis clan because he thinks he is more suitable than his two sons. The condition, however, is that Charley's wife Irene must return all of the money and die. Charley refuses.

Ultimately, however, he has to give in to the pressure of the Don. With a heavy heart he calls Irene and pretends that his conflict with the Prizzis has been settled. However, she becomes suspicious and flies to her place of residence in Los Angeles, from where she leaves for Hong Kong the next day. Charley suspects where she might have gone and follows her. When they meet, they play the happy couple again. However, both are preparing for murder behind each other's back; she loads her pistol and screws a silencer onto the barrel, he hides a knife under the bed. But she misses while his knife hits and gets stuck in her throat.

Irene's body is to be handed over to the police so that they can put the murder of the police chief's wife on file. A banker cooperating with the Prizzis identifies the body as that of the perpetrator. The Prizzis' honor and money are saved. The final shot shows Charley calling Maerose to take her out to dinner. It now seems certain that he will be the future head of the Prizzis through the marriage.

music

Alex North has quoted melodies from Giacomo Puccini's crook comedy Gianni Schicchi as a leitmotif in his composition . As in other Mafia films, there is no lack of the cliché that the protagonists are lovers of Italian opera. In a private performance, a tenor sings the famous romance from Gaetano Donizetti's comedy Der Liebestrank . A scene from Puccini's fairytale opera Turandot can also be heard in the background.

Reviews

John Huston directed his penultimate film at a very slow pace. The story gains persuasiveness above all through the actors, from whom the spirited Anjelica Huston, the director's daughter, was awarded an Oscar for best female supporting role. But her long-time lover, Jack Nicholson, also has unforgettable appearances as a killer with a late mental ignition, which help over the unmistakable lengths of the film. (Prism Online)