Thrillers can have plots that are simple and plots that are complicated. New Hollywood authors, known for attempting new and unconventional things, often preferred the latter. One of the best known examples is Marathon Man, 1976 film directed by John Schlesinger, arguably the most successful of all New Hollywood thrillers.
The plot is based on the novel by famous Hollywood script doctor William Goldman. It begins with a verbal altercation on the streets of New York that would result in accident claiming the life of an elderly German (played by Ben Dova) who held a key to deposit box. Protagonist, played by Dustin Hoffman, is Thomas Babbington “Babe” Levy is mild-mannered postgraduate history student and running enthusiast who prepares for marathon race. His brother Henry “Doc” Levy (played by Roy Scheider) lives much more exciting life thanks to career of secret government agent, which also includes all kinds of shady deals with various nefarious characters all over the world. One of them happens to be Dr. Christian Szell (played by Laurence Olivier), former dentist at Auschwitz concentration camp and the world’s most wanted Nazi war criminal. He has apparently co-operated with US government in exchange for freedom and access to ill-gotten wealth held in a New York safety deposit box held by his brother, killed in a crash. The accident forced him to come out of hiding into New York and there he meets Doc. Fearing that US agent might rob him, he stabs him. Doc dies but not before arriving to Babe’s apartment and now Babe becomes target of Szell and his henchmen, determined to find out what he knows about the whole affair.
Marathon Man is nowadays best known for legendary torture scene featuring menacing words “Is it safe” and cleverly utilising average viewer’s fear of dentists. The scene is famous also for displaying talents of two grand actors who belonged to different generations and different traditions of acting. Dustin Hoffman, known as adherent of Method acting, spent large amount of time and energy for physical preparation for the role and it paid off. He is wonderful as the embodiment of “ordinary man in extraordinary situation”, the most effective kind of thriller protagonist, and the film gives him many opportunities to express fear, weakness, frustration and helplessness when faced with incomprehensible evil. On the other hand, Hoffman very credibly displays running ability – the only skill that gives him advantage over the villains and actually saves his life. Laurence Olivier embodies the Old School of acting and delivers another great performance of a cold, intelligent but also very menacing and sadistic villain, originally based on real life Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele (who would, ironically, become antagonist of Olivier’s character in The Boys from Brazil two years later). Olivier’s onscreen achievement, later awarded with Golden Globe, becomes even more impressive in light of that actor’s serious health problems that forced him to shoot many of his scenes under painkillers.
That and many other scenes in film also work because John Schlesinger proved to be very capable director. Those scenes, almost always having something to do with violence, are directed very well. That include incident at the beginning, attempt on Doc’s life, Babe’s torture and escape and the very ingenious way Babe finally deals with Szell. Film also puts some of the contemporary issues and trends to good use. Post-Watergate disdain for US government as corrupt and distrustful institution is reflected in character of Doc’s boss Janeway (played by William Devane) who apparently sees nothing wrong in aiding Nazis, even when they harm US citizens. View of mid 1970s New York as near-dystopian hellhole of urban decay and rampant crime finds itself reflection in gang of street thugs who verbally harass and threaten Babe only to, in an ironic twist, provide aid in the hour of need.
With all this, Marathon Man is very good film, but it is far from being perfect. The main reason can be found in the plot which is simply too complicated and the need to tie up all loose ends makes this film overlong. Some of the scenes are simply unnecessary or too confusing, especially in the first part that takes place in Paris and shows Doc escaping some spectacular attempts on his life. Some of the subplots seem out of place, like the one involving Babe’s father as victim of 1950s McCarthy’s persecution. If the idea was to link that sad period of US history with more contemporary issues of Watergate and 1970s urban decay, it failed. Subplot involving Babe’s love interest also seems redundant, although Swiss model Marthe Keller handles that thankless role well. Yet, despite those flaws, Marathon Man is a film that would ultimately reward those viewers patient enough to endure complicated plot.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog @drax.leo
Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax
Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc
Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
