Featured Movies
Partners
Wanderers, The
A winning homage/parody of gang movies - West Side Story this definitely ain't. Kaufman's look back at the 1960s Bronx gangs is big on laughs, but shows the darkness at the heart of the gang lifestyle
Set in the 1960s, this chronicle of a bunch of high-school friends and foes in a Bronx gang is interspersed with some obligatory violence, but fortunately director Kaufman is more interested in the dynamics of the complex relationships than any potential exploitation. He effortlessly draws a convincing portrait of a generation looking for some meaning in their daily lives but with nowhere to go. Assured camerawork and a refusal to impose any moral judgement on his characters makes The Wanderers an interesting companion piece to the altogether sunnier American Graffiti. Kaufman - who the year previously directed the anti-psychiatry, post-Watergate update of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers consolidated his reputation with this cult hit. |
