Proper Refractions

H and City God Temple in Shanghai

Having my sister visit was delightful. Before she even left, I started missing her.

Prior to her visit, I was aware that her visit would be a measuring-stick by which I could assess how much I had learned in China and by which I could understand how much I had personally changed in the past five months. This being her first time in China, she was like a babe in the woods--I, the guiding hand with a torch that often flickered yet never totally extinguished.

I knew she would be such a measuring-stick because she is a constant in my life and because she knows the basic elements and incidents that have contributed to my identity: She could offer insight and observations based on her own knowledge (and her representation of) my essential common denominator that is my identity.

Though I was aware that her visit would allow for some personal analysis, I was not ready for how intense my self-reflection would be--"the difference between knowing and feeling" being one of our ongoing conversations. As I watched H face certain endemically China-challenges I have long since taken for granted, I slowly awoke to all the coping and self-protecting mental mechanisms I have established over the past months.

Riddle: Name a Good Pacino Role In Which He Is Not a Gangster.

Prior to watching "Serpico" (1973), I would have been hard-pressed to summon a movie title that answered that riddle. This made me realize, after watching "Serpico," that "Serpico" falls easily into Al Pacino's top five performances which are (in no particular order):
-"Godfather"
-"Godfather II"
-"Any Given Sunday"
-"Serpico"
-Definitely not "Scarface"

Normally, Pacino so facilely plays a conniving or manipulative anti-hero, that his on-point performance of incorruptible New York City detective Frank Serpico is a pleasant surprise. As Serpico graduates police academy and quickly rises through the ranks of the NYPD, he observes the racketeering and money-skimming widely practiced in the force. As an honest man, he denies participation. This alienates him from his squads who antagonize his benevolence. Transfer after transfer promises a cleaner department but fails to deliver.

Eventually, Serpico has to make decisions that compromise more than his reputation with his peers. Serpico puts his life on the line as he soon realizes he must work with district attorneys and commissioners to bring about an end to police corruption. Yes, Pacino acts in a role that is the antithesis of corruption.

Pacino keeps a suave cool for Serpico, who is stylyish in his undercover street dress (except when he poses as a chassid) and charming in his intellectual pursuits. But when Serpico does crack under the pressure from isolation and from the turmoil of battling corruption while maintaining civility amongst the police force, Pacino adequately releases charged speeches that could easily end with: "...and they pull me back in!"



(N.B. For those of you who are not as up on Puzo, Coppola, or Pacino filmography, that video is not from "Serpico.")

True in story, "Serpico" is a compelling cop-drama with an attractive lead performance. I can see why Max Fischer (6:00) would adapt it to the high school stage: three.5 out of five stars.