William Friedkin's controversial 'Cruising' is a challenging and oftentimes frustrating film. The story centers around Al Pacino going undercover to find a serial killer in the gay BDSM culture of late 70's NYC. The story seems simply enough, right? Well, it's deceiving as what Friedkin does is take the audience into a dark abyss of sordid sex, extreme debauchery, and brutal violence. It is, quite honestly, one of the more uncomfortable American films of the period to sit through.
The problem with the picture are the character motivations are vague for virtually all involved (Pacino, the killer, and the police chief). Why is the killer doing this? Why is Pacino starting to lose it? What is the deal with the police chief? Does he care about Pacino or not? Everything is so opaque and mysterious that the film is both fascinating and aggravating at the same time. And perhaps that was done on purpose, but considering reportedly 40 minutes was cut from the film I would imagine that many of those questions I posed were more clear. The ending itself is even more strange and confusing and I would suspect that while the ending wouldn't have been wrapped up in a nice little bow for the audience (nor would I expect that in a Friedkin film), the viewer could at least attempt to make more sense of it.
The problem with the picture are the character motivations are vague for virtually all involved (Pacino, the killer, and the police chief). Why is the killer doing this? Why is Pacino starting to lose it? What is the deal with the police chief? Does he care about Pacino or not? Everything is so opaque and mysterious that the film is both fascinating and aggravating at the same time. And perhaps that was done on purpose, but considering reportedly 40 minutes was cut from the film I would imagine that many of those questions I posed were more clear. The ending itself is even more strange and confusing and I would suspect that while the ending wouldn't have been wrapped up in a nice little bow for the audience (nor would I expect that in a Friedkin film), the viewer could at least attempt to make more sense of it.