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Anyone here familiar with this, Toback's debut? Any thoughts on it?

I feel that it is a fine film with a great central performance by Keitel. It deserves to well known, but is seems to get overlooked, but for fans of New York Cinema, Scorsese-esque dramas and the work of Keitel, it's a must-see, I feel.

Uh, i LOVE HARVEY KEITEL! One of the few brilliant actors of his generation who, in spite of the possibility of huge commercial success a la Pacino and De Niro, has stayed grounded and maintained close relationships with both brilliant debut filmmakers (anyone ever heard of Tarantino??) as well as contemporary auteurs, including Theo Angelopolous' latest picture....
And for the record, he's brilliant in FINGERS. The way he plays the piano with such sheer emotion is initially offputting and rather comical, but as the story progresses it really expresses the orgasmic experience that playing has for his character - who is stuck in more or less a shitty life in a bleak family "business"....

stroszeck wrote:(anyone ever heard of Tarantino??)

What's with the recent surge of Tarantino fans?

And Keitel is great... Did I read that wrong or are you really trying to say he's unlikeable, David?

I've never seen Fingers but I remember my film tutor saying (in the late 1970s) that it was the kind of film Sam Fuller would make about Nick Ray! I think it was meant more or less as a recommendation...

Jonathan S wrote:that it was the kind of film Sam Fuller would make about Nick Ray!

I have no idea what that means but I like it.

And Keitel gave one of the great film performances in Bad Lieutenant. I wonder how you film about his performance in there, David.

And what is the word on Toback's other films. I have a recommendation for Exposed, but I've avoided everything else he's made, despite how much I like this film.

Fingers is simply one of the great, gonzo, personal auteur movies of the American '70s New Wave - as I mentioned in that thread, I couldn't believe it didn't make the 70s list. It has a feverish intensity
It's one of the best New York movies, in terms of the use of locations, and Toback's contrapuntal use of music is unique; Davidhare mentioned the Bach, but Keitel's other "theme" in the movie is the Jamies' "Summertime, Summertime," and you'll never think of that song in the same way after you've seen Keitel wandering the streets of Manhattan blaring that tune out of his boombox. George Lucas & Hal Ashby had pioneered the crafting of soundtracks out of recycled rock songs, but here Toback fetishizes this one song in a way that gets all kinds of unexpected meaning out of it.

I also think Toback's deglamorized, semi-humorous take on the mafia and the people with whom they interact ("a double-suck!") is a major influence on The Sopranos - the tip-off is the presence of Dominic Chianese and Tony Sirico in both.

And if one is impressed by Fingers, it's essential to go back and see Karel Reisz's terrific, Toback-scripted The Gambler, which has a lot of the same concerns - primarily the Dostoyevskian interest in compulsive self-destruction, but also the contrast between different classes, and the interaction between the mafia and "civilians" as they share the space of New York City.