The Boston Strangler
dir. Richard Fleischer
The Boston Strangle (1968) is an incredible feat of filmmaking. It’s skillfully shot, there’s bold and effective editing, split screen montages broken up into five, sometimes six, seven segments, maybe more and at one point a frame is shrunken and placed over another frame. It’s like every technique in the book and then some were used. Which can make for a hard film to keep up with but that’s what makes it so engaging. It draws you and gives you very little breathing room with its tight storytelling, natural dialogue, energetic editing and detailed directing.
We’re shown the usually procedural portion of a crime mystery thriller, the aftermath of the crimes, the concerns of citizens, the pestering press, the leads, the dead ends — each of these elements are given the time and care to allow nearly every scene to stand out on its own yet still work well and tie in with the others to create a compelling narrative. The investigation is lead by a John S. Bottomly (played by the usual calm and authoritative Henry Fonda) who had one point becomes so desperate to find the killer, hires a self proclaimed psychic only for him to lead them to another innocent man. When the police work seems to have exhaustive itself and even the detectives themselves seem tired of their shortcomings we change perspectives at the perfect moment and are finally allowed inside the mind of the killer.
It’s hard to watch the crimes being committed — they feel real and raw. The killer pretends to be an ordinary handyman to gain access into his victims apartments, eases them into a false sense of security then does his deeds. It’s made all the more believable by Tony Curtis’ intense and harrowing performance. When finally arrested in an attempt to break into an apartment he doesn’t believe he’s guilty, let alone capable, of any kind of crime. He’s deemed insane by the court and it’s soon revealed he likely has split personality disorder and won’t be able to confess because part of him doesn’t even know he’s guilty. But when confronted and questioned he’s forced to to remember his actions. Reality is toyed with and distorted in form with the film’s unique brand of editing with quick cuts, superimposed images, other eye catching effects as the killer revisits his memories — part of him believing he’s innocent while the other part relives the murders. It’s a fascinating process to see unfold no matter how you ultimately feel about the character. This struggle continues until he cracks — not to confess but rather to slip away into the furthest reaches of his mind.
This is one of those movies that can help remind people of the power of cinema. A movie that I can point to and say “This. This is why movies are made.”