In a poor neighborhood of New York, the bitter and lonely Jewish pawnbroker Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) is a survivor from Auschwitz that has no emotions or feelings. Sol lost his dearest family and friends in the war and the faith on God and the belief in mankind. Now he only cares for money and is haunted by daydreams, actually flashbacks from the period of the concentration camp.
Sol's assistant is the ambitious Latin Jesus Ortiz (Jaime Sanchez), a former urchin that has regenerated and now wants to learn with Sol how to run a business of his own. When Sol realizes that the obscure laundry business he has with the powerful gangster Rodriguez (Brock Peters) comes also from brothels, Sol recalls the fate of his beloved wife in the concentration camp and has a nervous breakdown. His attitude leads Jesus Ortiz to a tragedy and Sol finds a way to cry.
"The Pawnbroker" is a powerful and realistic story of bitterness, loneliness and disbelief in mankind of a man victim of the Holocaust. Rod Steiger has certainly the best performance of his career in the complex role of a skeptical and bitter Jewish. His assistant is an ambiguous character that contrasts with the pawnbroker with his optimistic and happy behavior. In the end, the pawnbroker feels the need to cry and impales his hand with a spike, also in a reference of Jesus Christ. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "O Homem do Prego" ("The Man of the Spike" - literally; however, it is a pun that also means "The Pawnbroker")
Sol's assistant is the ambitious Latin Jesus Ortiz (Jaime Sanchez), a former urchin that has regenerated and now wants to learn with Sol how to run a business of his own. When Sol realizes that the obscure laundry business he has with the powerful gangster Rodriguez (Brock Peters) comes also from brothels, Sol recalls the fate of his beloved wife in the concentration camp and has a nervous breakdown. His attitude leads Jesus Ortiz to a tragedy and Sol finds a way to cry.
"The Pawnbroker" is a powerful and realistic story of bitterness, loneliness and disbelief in mankind of a man victim of the Holocaust. Rod Steiger has certainly the best performance of his career in the complex role of a skeptical and bitter Jewish. His assistant is an ambiguous character that contrasts with the pawnbroker with his optimistic and happy behavior. In the end, the pawnbroker feels the need to cry and impales his hand with a spike, also in a reference of Jesus Christ. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "O Homem do Prego" ("The Man of the Spike" - literally; however, it is a pun that also means "The Pawnbroker")