OF
THE
WEEK
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UNION CITY
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Considered one of the more important of the neo-noir films Union City is a wonderful mix of styles and equally glorious overacting and underacting. Directed by Marcus Reichert and based on ‘The crime writers crime writer’ Cornel Woolrich’s short story ‘The Corpse Next Door’.
Starring Dennis Lipscomb in the lead role of Harlan with Debbie Harry making her film debut as his frustrated (sexually and otherwise) wife Lillian.
Union City begins with Harlan becoming obsessed with his milk being tampered with (tampered being one to two mouthfuls being taken). After Harlan lays a trap for the thief he finally catches him and accidentally kills him in a rage only tampered milk can bring on.
It moves on from here into a sort of campy Crime and Punishment/Tell Tale Heart routine where Harlan becomes more and more paranoid, hitting the bottle, dreaming of running away and developing a pronounced aversion to milk while Lillian has an affair with the buildings superintendent (Everett McGill).
At times this film feels more ‘Suspira’ than ‘The Sweet Smell of Success’ with its red and blue motifs and similar lighting. It tips its hat more to ‘The Tenant’ than ‘Chinatown’ with even a couple of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ moments. Strangely though the Union City reminds me, stylistically, of an old video nasty ‘Nightmares of a damaged brain’ and if Reichert had stuck with Woolrichs original title it would more than likely be on the shelf beside.
Though flawed in many ways there really are some wonderful moments through out Union City and some gut splitting pieces of dialogue. One such example being when Harlan turns to Lillian and states ‘I’m converting to a Catholic Lillian, like your mother.’ to which Lillian replies ‘I’m converting to a blonde’
D.N.
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