Change Your Image
abertoni
Reviews
The Incident (1967)
Staggering, truthful
What's great about The Incident is how its strips bare so many pretenses, tears away the social order, and lets the chips fall where they may. The subway car where the meat of the action takes place might as well be the jungle--a merciless, survival of the fittest kind of place. The two thugs are the embodiment of the civilized man's worst nightmare. Strong, aggressive, amoral males with a thirst for blood and domination. The frail bonds of society--that keep the strong from throttling the weak--are gone. No police, no laws, no manners, and, most of all, no honor. Stripped to its essence, true nature reveals itself: the sex-starved woman who wants a domineering macho man; the slick, handsome guy who had no true feelings for his pretty date, just for himself; the soldier whose uniform hides his cowardice; the list goes on and on.
This is a great film. Inspired, gripping, and razor-like in its insight. Sure, it isn't perfect. But it's says something important in an incredibly powerful way. If you don't see yourself in it, or some part of you, you're probably deluding yourself--especially these folks who say, "I would have taken care of these thugs!" Maybe these, but at some point that bravado falls away.