John Carpenter
1997: Fuga Da New York

The best western by John Carpenter, filled with references, wonderful surreal atmospheres, a very valid story, memorable characters, anthological sequences, cutting-edge special effects.

Carpenter's film presents us with a bleak future, far from easygoing optimistic ideas, a dirty, greasy, and cold future where institutions care less and less about the people (this factor reflects the typical distrust of the director towards these). The crime rate in 1988 reaches such a point in the USA that they are forced to turn Manhattan island into a maximum-security prison for life-sentenced inmates (the film is from 1981). The connections to the outside have been severed, except for some bridges. The introduction is clear: once you enter, you never leave. But a true story, as we know, always begins when a previously created balance is disrupted. In this case, the distorting element is a group of desperados who crash the Air Force One (the plane of the President of the United States, to be clear) into the metropolitan area of Manhattan in the year 1997, long after 1988, so the prison reality of New York is well established. Inside, there is a world unknown to the good, civilized part of the world.

Manhattan is a dark jungle where the law of the strongest prevails, and the weak would do well to ally with the powerful of this new world. However, the President manages to survive the impact of his plane against a skyscraper (prophecy of September 11th?) but ends up in the hands of another president, the leader of a state within a state, the Duke of New York (Isaac Hayes), "number one," as he likes to be called. The situation causes concern. The President was on his way to a conference that would decide the fate of the world, a world on the brink of a third world war. And as often happens, destiny reserves the difficult tasks for the challenging people. Thus, the protagonist of the story enters the scene, a legend, a war hero who made the mistake of challenging the system that once rewarded him by robbing a bank: he is Jena Plinsken (Snake in the original language, for obvious reasons related to his personality). He is the forerunner of anti-heroes, the difficult characters who struggle to fit in (Rambo) and who are misunderstood. The guy doesn't talk much; he has an eye patch over his left eye and a certain affinity for dark humor and fighting techniques, besides having his muscle gift, which made his alter-ego Kurt Russell famous (initially, it was supposed to be Tommy Lee Jones, who then backed out). To top it off, this awkward character appears at the penitentiary's reception center just as the President of the United States (whom Jena couldn't care less about) ends up in the Duke's hands. The prison warden, Hawk, considers it a waste not to use that mass of muscle and brain, already tested before, to solve the problem with the President. Thus, Jena is given the possibility of amnesty in exchange for a... small favor. Since in both cases, he must enter the penitentiary, the possibility of redemption consists of gliding onto the roof of the World Trade Center with a glider, finding the President, and getting him to safety before the end of the conference the President was supposed to attend. Hawk is particularly interested in a magnetic tape contained in the President's briefcase, which must reach its destination at any cost. Like every Homo Sapiens sapiens with an IQ greater than 1, Jena accepts the proposal. The superiors, however, know all too well Jena's "sly" qualities, so before sending him to hell, they give him an object that will have the purpose of reminding him indelibly of the passing time. To prevent Plinsken from fleeing to Canada once on the glider, they inject micro-bombs into his arteries, which will explode within 24 hours if not neutralized beforehand, meaning upon his return with the President and the tape. 24 hours is the time limit within which the decisive summit will end. "And if I should be late?" "No more Hartford summit, and no more Jena Plinsken."

The protagonist, in an endless race in an alien and inhumane New York, will fight for the cause of good (that is, the outside world) to steal from hell (the world of Manhattan) the salvation of the entire world, both good and bad. He will encounter nocturnal predators, treacherous old friends, bipedal animals, the Duke himself, a lively taxi driver, and life itself, anew, which he will always value more as the timer's deadline approaches, a life always hanging by a thread (there's not a single character who hasn't thought him dead). An explosive and entertaining mix, seasoned with the excellent futuristic and synthetic music typical of the '80s, composed by Carpenter himself, terribly real and almost always nocturnal set designs, memorable characters (punk Romero above all), and a never-wavering pace. A work that even concludes with a hint of comedy, always appreciable thanks to the figure of the operetta-like president presented. A flop in America (due to lack of patriotism), a big hit in Europe, a film no cinephile should miss.