The Bronx

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Movie
German title The Bronx
Original title Fort Apache - The Bronx
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1981
length 125 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Daniel Petrie
script Heywood Gould
production Thomas Fiorello ,
Martin Richards
music Jonathan Tunick
camera John Alcott
cut Rita Roland
occupation

The Bronx is an American fiction film from 1981. The drama film was directed by Daniel Petrie .

action

The film tells about the life of police officers in the run-down district of South Bronx in New York City . For the police, working on this police station, which they refer to as Fort Apache , is a punishment. Only four percent of the local police officers speak Spanish, although the district is predominantly inhabited by Puerto Ricans and African Americans .

Elderly cop Murphy has been in the police force for 18 years. He solves problems with hardship on the one hand and creativity on the other. He has never lost his respect for the law and the people of the Bronx. He does not take bribes. He falls in love with the younger Puerto Rican nurse Isabella and starts a relationship with her. After the first night of love, Murphy discovers that she is using drugs. But he is initially silent on the subject. Murphy's new colleague is the Italian-American Corelli. He wants to make a career with the police and avoid trouble.

Two patrol officers are murdered by the drug addict prostitute Charlotte. The new police chief wants to see results and orders to make as many arrests as possible. The investigations are carried out using tough methods. This leads to unrest lasting several days, which the helpless police try to break up with tear gas and violence. In connection with the riots, police officer Morgan murdered an innocent Puerto Rican by throwing him off the roof of a building for no reason. Murphy, watching what happened, feels guilty. He evades a direct question from his manager, but thinks about reporting Morgan. His partner Corelli talked him out of it. He was also appalled by the behavior, but you didn't tell a colleague.

The relationship between Murphy and Morgan is strained. When Murphy tells him that he saw the murder, Morgan attacks him and a wild brawl ensues. Plagued by guilt, he talks to Isabella about his moral dilemma. She assures him that he would not hesitate for a second to report her brother if he had been the killer. Then she lets Murphy drop her off near the drug dealers to get a shot of heroin. The drug dealers who Isabella buys her drugs from have now killed the prostitute Charlotte after attacking one of them with a razor for no reason.

The drug dealers fear Isabella might betray them to Murphy. They prepare their heroin in such a way that Isabella collapses after an overdose. She is taken to Jefferson Hospital, her place of work, where her colleagues can no longer save her. In a hostage situation in the same hospital, both dealers are shot dead by Murphy and a colleague. After the hostage rescue, Murphy searches for Isabella and discovers her dead on a stretcher. Murphy reports Morgan to his boss and quits the job. Murphy's boss tells him that he's a good cop and that his resignation is a mistake. Murphy and Corelli then chase a burglar through the deserted streets of the Bronx. The final scene indicates that Murphy will return to the police force.

Reviews

Roger Ebert wrote that Paul Newman played his part well. Rachel Ticotin is "wonderful". Ebert criticized the violence and some scenes that he thought were unnecessary.

Remarks

  • The Bronx is based on the memories of two police officers who worked in the district between 1964 and 1968.
  • The film sparked protests in the Puerto Rican and African American communities over its perceived racist tendencies. The Puerto Rican and African American characters appearing in the film are almost exclusively drug addicts, whores, and criminals. Because of these protests, a text was added to the opening credits, emphasizing that the film only deals with the lawbreakers, since it depicts the police work of two police officers. Those who obeyed the law and those who tried to improve the Bronx would therefore not appear.
  • The film was shot in New York City . A former police station on Simpson Street (Bronx) was used as a filming location. It grossed $ 29.2 million in US cinemas.
  • The police refer to their police station as Fort Apache . In American usage, this is a metaphor for a fortified outpost in the middle of enemy territory.

Court hearing

  • Tom Walker, author of Fort Apache (New York: Crowell, 1976. ISBN 0-690-01047-8 ) sued the manufacturing company. In the Walker v. Time Life Films, Inc., 784 F.2d 44 (2d Cir. 1986) negotiated whether the scriptwriter would have stolen Walker's idea. Walker argued that both the film and the book portrayed the murder of two police officers at close range. The film and the book included cockfights, drunks, cannibalized cars, prostitutes, police spies, Irish-born demoralized third and fourth generation police officers trying unsuccessfully to fight the crime. The United States Court of Appeals dismissed the action. She called the facts described "scènes à faire" (French for "scenes that are necessary") - features that are so typical of a genre that it is almost an obligation to show them. The use of scènes à faire is not a violation of copyright.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Roger Ebert: Fort Apache, The Bronx . In: Chicago Sun-Times, January 1, 1981
  2. ^ Cultural Desk: "'Apache' Film's Debut Protested". - New York Times. - February 7, 1981
  3. ↑ Leland Poague: "All I Can See Is the flags": "Fort Apache" and the visibility of History . In: Cinema Journal . Vol. 27, No. 2 (Winter 1988), pp. 8-26.
  4. ↑ Margolick, David. - Legal Notes: "Writer Told 'Ft. Apache' isn't Just His". - New York Times. - August 25, 1985