Atlantic city (1980)

Atlantic city was made in 1980, just before American movies started to be more about glitz and stocks than about seedy streets and dingy bars. Louis Malle makes Atlantic city look not only seedy but also, well, human; a city full of casinos and gambling and corrupt types looks like it is inhabited by real human beings, living on real streets. We get the sense that the city is changing quickly, the old is destroyed and brutally exchanged with the new. One of the central location is a shabby apartment house, a slab of concrete about to be demolished in which human dramas play out. The film makes us care about its equally seedy characters, an elderly gangster, Lou - great, great Burt Lancaster! - and woman, Sally (Susan Sarandon), who works in an ugly-looking oyster place. Lou who used to be a gangster but is now a numbers runner - when he is not taking care of an old widow - he is bossed around, submissively doing his chores. At some point, Sally and Lou meet and some sort of friendship/romantic affair arises between them. Atlantic city is wistful film where the olden days hover as a hazy memory about crime and perhaps a bit of romance - Lou wants to revive the old times when he (supposedly) was a big and important crook. A complicating factor is  Sally's ex-husband who comes into town with his new gf, Sally's sister. He is a drug dealer and it turns out that all sorts of criminals are after him and there's hell to pay. There's a tangle of drug money, violence and erotic liasions. Malle as I said emphasizes the wistful and the decayed in what I see as a rather good movie that really makes its characters come alive - not to speak of the city itself, which is the main character. Burt Lancaster's stunning performance as the aging man who dreams of his youth is a reason alone to watch it.

Louis Malle's American production is a varied set. I liked his take on Chechov, Vanya on 42 street, but was not overwhelmed by the philosophical My dinner with Andre. Atlantic city was a surprising viewing experience for me because I had no expectations. It is by no means a great film but a small gem when it comes to the type of movies that was made in the 70's in the USA.