November 2019, arsenal cinema

70 mm: THE UNTOUCHABLES

THE UNTOUCHABLES, 1987

As part of our ongoing 70mm series, we are showing the opulently mounted big city Western THE UNTOUCHABLES (Brian De Palma, USA 1987) in November. Four years after his remake of Scarface, Brian De Palma once again grapples with the story of gangster boss Al Capone. Following the US television series of the same name (1959–1963), the film focuses on a group of “untouchables” in Chicago in 1930 – prohibition agent Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner), patrol cop Jim Malone (Sean Connery), auditor Oscar Wallace (Charles Martin Smith), and police candidate George Stone (Andy García) – who have made it their task to take Al Capone (Robert De Niro) out of the game and break up his syndicate. As witnesses to Capone’s violent crimes can never be found, they attempt to prosecute him for tax evasion. When Capone hears of the plans, a bloody clash ensues – all the way to the showdown with the pram on the station steps of Chicago. (hjf) (22. & 27.11.)