The Untouchables
1987 · Directed by Brian De Palma
Original language: English
- crime
- history
- thriller
The story
Elliot Ness, an ambitious prohibition agent, is determined to take down Al Capone. In order to achieve this goal, he forms a group given the nickname “The Untouchables”.
What it’s like
Warm, polished period gloss with a hard edge: 1930s Chicago rendered in amber lamplight, rain-slick streets, and deep-shadowed interiors, with Ennio Morricone's brass-and-strings score swelling over the big set pieces. De Palma stages much of it in symmetrical, carefully blocked compositions, and the film's most famous sequences unfold in slow, drawn-out tension: a stairwell confrontation, a shootout in a train station, a baseball bat swung at the edge of the frame. The mood is stylized and theatrical rather than gritty-realistic, a crisp, mannered crime opera with bursts of sudden, startling violence that lands hard and brief, with some bloodshed and a few gunshot deaths but little lingering gore. Pacing is deliberate, built around courtroom and back-room maneuvering as much as shootouts, and the emotional register is earnest, stoic and occasionally wry. The arcs follow an idealistic, rule-bound lawman hardening into his task, and a grizzled veteran teaching a younger man what it costs to win. It suits a rainy weekend, a classic-crime rewatch, or a night in with a whisky, and it's for viewers who enjoy old-school gangster style, bravura camerawork and a sense of moral stakes.
More films like The Untouchables
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved The Untouchablesand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
