Blu-Ray Review: The Pawnbroker

By Brad Henderson

I first witnessed Sidney Lumet’s work when I was a young kid and saw 12 Angry Men. It was the first non-horror black and white film that I saw and I’ve loved it ever since. Sidney Lumet has made some great films: Dog Day Afternoon, Network, Deathtrap, Serpico. When I heard that Olive Films was releasing The Pawnbroker (a film I hadn’t seen) I was stoked because Lumet hasn’t disappointed me yet.

Olive Films is sort of like Criterion, but without the immense packaging and limitless special features. They do some great work. I first heard of them when they started releasing horror films and soon realized these guys were all over the place. One of their newest releases is The Pawnbroker.

It’s the story of a Jewish pawnbroker named Sol (Rod Steiger) who runs a shop in New York City. Sol survived the horrors of Auschwitz and as a result, he is pretty much a jerk who shows no sympathy or emotions of any kind. During the war Sol lost his family and it still haunts him to this day. He experiences flashbacks of the abominations that he witnessed. He is also obsessed with money and bases his life around it; money is the only thing that he really cares about. Sol’s co-worker Jesus wants nothing more than to learn the ways of the business so he can be as successful as Sol seems to be. Jesus soon realizes that Sol has more going on than what actually appears and learns what Sol is up to.

The performances in The Pawnbroker are some of the best I’ve ever seen. Rod Steiger leaves you shaken half the time. His character makes you so nervous because you can see and feel the pain he is going through the entire time. Along with Steiger, there is a barrage of excellent actors who all put on performances that will haunt your dreams. Everyone is hurting throughout this film and it is heartbreaking. There is a very brief role from Reni Santoni as a junkie who comes into the store. He gives a rattling performance that keeps you from breathing for the short time he is on the screen.

The Pawnbroker is dirty, raw, and beautiful and something that you haven’t seen before. Almost every scene is shot and edited in a way that continuously keeps you on your toes and waiting to see what happens next. I hope and pray that ultra-important films like this get disseminated through our younger audiences because they need to see them

The Pawnbroker is an important piece of cinema. It is a huge character piece that relies completely on the actors and their performances for its hard-hitting approach.

The Pawnbroker will be released on Blu-Ray from Olive Films on April 22.