Point Blank (1967) Review

Imagine the visuals of Tokyo Drifter but it’s an American noir film. Directed by John Boorman, who is famously known for Deliverance, and Exorcist II: The Heretic. Point Blank is a stylish film with a simple story, Walker (Lee Marvin) gets double crossed, stolen from, and left for dead by his wife (Sharon Acker), and friend Mal Reese (John Vernon). With seemingly nothing else to do, he takes it upon himself to retrieve the $93000 dollars that was rightfully his. It is a pitiful sum of money to go on a killing rampage for, but it spurs him on to destroy a crime syndicate and take it back by force. The film is standard with its storytelling, it’s not pushing any boundaries here, what you are watching this for is the performance from Marvin, and the stellar visuals. This film is vibrant, there is a wide variety of colours used here and the costumes of the characters compliment them.

Walker teams up with his sister-in-law Chris (Angie Dickinson) to retrieve the money, and the dynamic these two characters share is what glues the film together. There is one scene in which Walker is using a yellow telescope to peak into a hotel, and his attire compliments it by being a slightly darker shade. Chris walks into the frame, and she is also wearing a similar colour, showing how the pair’s goals are aligned with each other. Later on in the film, when she is starting to get tired of him, Chris is represented with a striking shade of red, while Walker wears neutral colours of black and white. The film playfully uses the attire of its characters to match whatever their relationship status is, and this extends far beyond these two and into the rest of the characters Walker is up against.

The colourful costumes are one thing but the framing of each shot and general camerawork makes Point Blank an engagingly fun watch. The general noir conventions are here, such as darkly lit interior shots with shadows and mirrors being used to signify something deeper, and the abundance of curtains and blinds meaning things are not as they seem. But Point Blank contrasts this with sunshine and large open areas, used to take the viewer from one scene of the crime to the next. The majority of this film takes place indoors, but it never gets visually boring. It is exciting to view these conventional noir shots in full colour, in a film that takes pride on its visuals and offers a new twist on the genre. While the editing is pretty standard, it does have some seamless transitions which I love. Later in the film, Chris knocks Walker unconscious and the following scenes involving the pair having sex are dreamlike. As Walker rolls over, it swiftly changes to his now deceased wife and Reese going at it instead. It then cuts back to Walker unconscious on the floor, then the next shot is him and Chris in bed together. It reveals layers to Walker’s psyche, how the affair and betrayal effected him deeply, and how for him this is much more than getting $93000 back, but is instead about him regaining his masculinity.

While the film may rely heavily on noir, it is a conventional crime thriller, with big gangs of angry men. The representation of women here is dated. You have got the femme-fatale wife character…or the femme-fatale sister-in-law character, that deceives Reese and allows Walker to get revenge. There is a big focus on guns and murder, but despite that there is never a huge action sequence. Walker controls every scene almost effortlessly, and manages to work every situation in his favour to the point that a gun battle does not break out. He is a smooth operator and clearly has his fair share of experience with criminal enterprises. However it would have been nice if Chris was a stronger character, rather than just doing whatever Walker says and ultimately getting tired of him. Still, taking into account the year of production and the typical connotations of masculinity the crime genre is often associated with, Point Blank never does anything outright questionable or offensive, more so it complies with genre conventions of the time. Whether you care about that or not is obviously personal.

Point Blank is a great fun crime film that reminded me of Tokyo Drifter. While it may not be as stylish, I would not be surprised if Boorman was influenced in some way by Suzuki and wanted to create an American crime drama in response. Boorman has been a director I have been wanting to check out for some time now, both Deliverance and Zardoz have been on my watch list for a while. I cannot believe that this is the same guy who made Exorcist II, I can safely say Point Blank is a lot better than that.