The Undercover Man | Finding Clarity In A Mad World

Thank god for Tony Rayns, whose commentary for The Undercover Man made me realize what makes Joseph H. Lewis’s aesthetic so interesting. Lewis wasn’t an auteur, somebody who imposed a trademarked look and feel to each and every work. Instead, he chose his projects very carefully, always hoping to advance a message he cared about.And here, with The Undercover Man, Rayns outlines how domesticity and goodness and normalcy can overpower the violence and greed that stems from a wayward society ruled by corruption and selfishness. Whereas some auteurs, like Budd Boetticher, mythologize familiar concepts, making them fantastical almost, Lewis finds his depth in realism, in how people react to the lunacy of our world. His editing is always calculated and purposeful, allowing important scenes to draw out, careful and selective with his pans and zooms and close-ups.

The most striking scene to me is how the grandma character draws parallel between her story of fleeing Sicily with her sons years ago and Frank running from the investigation. It all brings into focus Frank’s conversation with his wife about leaving the force, i.e. the pure idealism of America, and the idea that an easier life is better than the turmoil he and everyone must go through for that ideal to be realized. This movie has such a profound “this is why we fight” attitude that never loses its step. The movie isn’t about crime, or about fighting crime, but about who we become amidst all the fighting, all the pressure to lead narcissistic lives – it’s about how the simple, everyday presences in our lives, the people and ideals we love and would die for, are truly the most meaningful, and how they can help us win what feels like an impossible fight.