The Chicago Traveler

Directed by Michael Winner, Death Wish is a 1974 film based on the novel by Brian Garfield. Charles Bronson stars as Paul Kersey, a New York City liberal architect who takes the law into his own hands. While controversial and condemned by many critics for its heroic depiction of vigilantism, the film was a major success, generating four sequels over the next 20 years.

While Paul Kersey is away from home, three muggers break into his apartment, killing his wife and raping his daughter, leaving her emotionally disturbed. Kersey turns to the police, who are overwhelmed with the rising crime rate in the city and admit that the criminals' apprehension is unlikely. Frustrated, he arms himself with a .32, using it to kill would-be muggers. However, his newfound bravery leads him away from merely defending himself to actually pursuing criminals. This hunter soon becomes the hunted as Police Detective Frank Ochoa (Vincent Gardenia) looks for this vigilante praised by the media.

Death Wish, which contains scenes of Chicago's Union Station (3-D view, requires Google Earth), certainly speaks to the era it was first released to. Crime spiked upward around '63 and increased rapidly during the late '60s and early '70s. Things started getting crazy after the Kennedy assassination, got worse during the urban riots of the late '60s, and were seriously bad by the '70s. This film tapped into the population's growing frustration, glorifying they everyman hero cleaning up the streets himself. But considering that the rate of violent crime (murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) is about the same today as in the mid-'70s, the movie certainly still has messages for today's society. There's no doubt Death Wish is brutal and a bit clumsy, but the discussion it generates cannot be ignored. What does it mean to be 'civilized- What is 'justice- When are the law enforcers a help, and when are they a hindrance?

Comments Off