The Brigands of Bulwark

Some positive word of mouth brought me to Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017, S. Craig Zahler) and once I got into it I was surprised at how good it was—particularly its act structure and economy. When I say act structure I’m specifically referring to the way its protagonist’s goal develops and significantly continues changing.

And then this past February, Chung-hoon Chung told me that Chan-wook Park is in New York prepping a project called Brigands and that there was an article in Variety (Chung has been the DP of all of Park’s movies going back to Oldboy, 2003). When I found it online I learned that the article was from 2012, and that the screenplay was from 2006, written by Zahler, and titled The Brigands of Rattleborge. I read the script online and think it’s amazing, especially the handling of its revenge theme and highly anticipate director Park’s vision for it. It’s very dark and very violent.

So when I heard about Dragged Across Concrete (2019, Zahler) I couldn’t wait to see it. Dragged Across Concrete takes familiar motifs from the crime genre—an armored car robbery, mirroring the similarities of cop and criminal—but gives them a fresh take with Zahler’s characteristic flourishes and signature craftsmanship. Notice how the racist jokes aren’t limited to just the cops or the criminals; and how right before the score at the same time both the cops and the crooks both don disguises. This last point is something I’m still pondering. What is it saying? That behind the performances there are no good guys or bad guys we traditionally identify by what side of the law they’re on in the crime genre, but simply, in this modern tale, men? Okay not that I don’t think this is super awesome, but it reminds me of a line from Adaptation (2002, Spike Jonze) where CHARLIE KAUFMAN says: “…you explore the notion that cop and criminal are really two aspects of the same person. See every cop movie ever made for other examples of this.” RIDGEMAN (Mel Gibson) and SLIM (Tory Kittles) are the main characters, and each has a male partner—okay maybe this duality thing is actually the one aspect that isn’t as subtle as I’d thought now that I think about it.

The pace of Dragged Across Concrete is assured, slow, and deliberate; something like Assault on Precinct 13 (1976, John Carpenter). The dialogue is stylized yet efficient, with tasteful humor in a Mamet way. And there’s definitely a Hawksian professionalism among the cast of characters that the drama centers around. Like the Brigands script, Dragged Across Concrete all comes down to a robbery that occurs around the midpoint.  And like much of Zahler’s work the tone is dark and violent. Dragged Across Concrete is also a near perfect film, and all while remaining mostly subtle. The screenplay's greatest strengths are the motivations that define each character, and an endless supply of plot twists or moments that come off as fresh because they go against type.

The armed robber villains here really chilled me too. Something about how serious, efficient, and intelligent these sociopaths are makes me appreciate the way these characters have been crafted. On top of that the pre-recorded audio tape of the demands in the anonymous robot voice is easily my favorite part of the movie.

Okay so yeah, Dragged Across Concrete is a fun, tough, gritty, well crafted cynical modern fresh take on the crime thriller that works and I strongly recommend it.