
Serpico. 1973. USA. Directed by Sidney Lumet. Screenplay by Waldo Salt, Norman Wexler. With Al Pacino, Tony Roberts, Cornelia Sharpe. 4K digital restoration by Paramount; courtesy Paramount. 130 min.
Over 100 New York City locations were used by Sidney Lumet and his crew to create a realistic portrayal of a good man’s fall into isolation and darkness—and one of the decade’s best films. Famously inspired by the real-life story of detective Frank Serpico, who uncovered the NYPD’s systemic corruption in the 1960s and 1970s (and was shot in the face after refusing to participate in it), Serpico is an extraordinary portrait of a city losing its moral compass. Al Pacino stars as a Shakespearean tragic hero who fights against sordid powers and unforgiving forces despite his physical and mental agony.