Bray

This frame capture is from a DVD Beaver review of a new French Bluray of Sidney Lumet‘s Serpico. I don’t know the yeller, but the guy taking the heat is Al Pacino. I’m trying to think of the last time I’ve been howled and pointed at like this, but it’s been a while. Possibly decades, I mean. It’s really hard to think when emotions are cranked up to this level.

Below is a N.Y. Times video essay about a visit with the real Frank Serpico, who wandered around Europe after his NYPD experience (’60 to ’71), returned to New York in 1980 and finally wound up in a small town in upstate New York. His Wiki bio says he “studies and lectures on occasion to students at universities and police academies and sharing experiences with police officers who are currently in similar situations.

Also from the Wiki bio: “When it was decided to make the movie about his life called Serpico, Al Pacino invited Serpico to stay with him at a house that Pacino had rented in Montauk, New York. When Pacino asked why he had stepped forward, Serpico replied: “Well, Al, I don’t know. I guess I would have to say it would be because…if I didn’t, who would I be when I listened to a piece of music?”

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22 thoughts on “Bray”

  1. The guy is one of his superiors who is clean as a whistle, who invites him to retreats for Catholic officers. He’s pissed because Serpico took his complaint outside the department. He’s angry but barely raises his voice. The scene ends with Serpico screaming “THIS IS MY LIFE, YOU FUCK!!!!!!!!”

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  2. I work for a 69 year old Jewish lawyer who works out of an office in Beverly Hills, so it goes without saying (which is why I’ll say it) that I get screamed at like this (I’m not the only one) at least once a week, sometimes for infractions such as eating microwaved popcorn during my lunch break, or daring to ask for a week’s leave for the birth of my second child. I have also had legal petitions, upwards of 200 pages, thrown at my head. One time I said “good morning” to my boss only to be told, complete with finger-pointing, that I was never to say “good morning” to him, ever, under any circumstances. His lower lip trembled as he said this to me. I look for a new job every single day, but so far, nothing.

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  3. MilkMan, at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that your boss with live a very long and fruitful life and will die peaceable in his sleep, with nary a thought of all the people he’s damaged over the years. It’s called The Lew Wasserman Effect.

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  5. Speaking of old guys Jeff, any thoughts on the selection of Coppola, Wallach ( that will make him the second oldest Oscar winner after Robert Boyle right?), and Goddard as next year’s honorary Oscar winners?

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  8. Had a boss look this way once after getting on my case about a spell of taking (in his eyes) too many sick days on Mondays and Fridays. He had the secretary do the analysis and everything.

    Thing that pissed me off the most was that I never knew I had taken off that much sick time, and never chose Mondays and Fridays intentionally, it just sort of happened that way (well, not even that– it wasn’t statistically significant in any way, we’re really talking about 10 sick days over the course of a freakin’ year). Not making excuses here, but it was really stupid (and the *entire* office agreed with me, no one understood what had set him off).

    Anyway… one thing was certain: even though I would work for the man for another three years, and he never came close to being that irate again, I never respected the man ever again.

    Anyone who gets that angry about something that insignificant is a small man.

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  10. The actor’s name is Biff McGuire by the way, and he was younger than he looks here. He’s 83 now and was 46 or 47 here.

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  13. “The guy is one of his superiors who is clean as a whistle, who invites him to retreats for Catholic officers.”

    Ha, reminds me of Chris Cooper’s Robert Hanssen in Breach, browbeating his Catholic underling into going to confession and attending Latin Mass.

    I had a boss eight years ago who yelled at me like this, mostly because I had the temerity to criticize his handling of some important situations. In fact, he would sometimes invite some co-workers into his office to watch him throw me against the wall few times and then mop the floor with me.

    I’m still happily at work in that organization and that boss is long gone. Survival is the best revenge.

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