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In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

You cannot know what film acting is without seeing Rod Steiger in The Pawnbroker. Only now, so many years later can I appreciate what a stupendously difficult role this was: a man who cannot FEEL anymore. It is relentlessly grim and yet the beautiful but unobtrusive direction and camera work of Sidney Lumet never 'puts a foot wrong'. Lumet loved New York City with a passion and this film is a paean to its dark and somber immensity. Steiger should have gotten the Academy Award but the supporting actor award should have definitely gone to Juano Hernandez in a small but utterly devastating role as a autodidact black man of fragile mind and dignity who comes to the pawnshop and pawns things just to talk to the pawnbroker who was once a professor. It is Juano's heartbreaking performance of naked wounded dignity, intense loneliness and despair that provides the essential counterpoint to Mr. Nasserman's deadness of heart. His two scenes are, for me, two of the great moments in the post war cinema. Devastating. I am a fan of the jazz score and it is so right for the NYC and Harlem vibes that contrast with the scholarly and classical professor that Nasserman once was. The discordant element is a perfect fit. Just an aside: the use of slow motion for the idyllic memory scenes were a truly NEW cinematic invention of Lumet's. They were borrowed for the death scene of Bonnie and Clyde and then became such a cliche that it ended up being used in feminine hygiene commercials! Try to remember how NEW this was as a stylized expression. (Spoiler alert) Strange that so few people seem to get the meaning of the end of the film. Only when Mr. Nasserman looks down and sees he has blood on his own hands and that his cruelty and indifference has cost a young life can he rejoin the human race (hopefully).

''The Pawnbroker'' is a gripping and somewhat controversial for its time film about a Jewish genocide survivor struggling to adapt in society while facing his personal traumas. Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film is an outstanding character study with a magnificent performance from its lead.Lumet's direction has been often criticized for incorporating a rapid flashback editing influenced from the French New Wave. This is true, as the film's editing proves to be very annoying with its sudden and unexpected cuts which somehow block the characters from developing their performances further as well distracting the audience from the film's force. Most scenes are cut short, or at least shorter than they should have been which limits the audience from immersing themselves into the characters' situations. It could be said that the experimental editing doesn't work out and chokes the film rather than letting the story progress. Despite the messy editing, Lumet directs the film meticulously and manages to bring to life a truly heartbreaking story with great realism and suspense.Morton S. Fine and David Friedkin, who worked on the adaptation, do a very good job on capturing the original novel's essence, paying close attention to each character's development, meaning that all characters are very well written instead of being just ''creatures'' as Nazerman (Steiger) sees them.Concerning the technical aspects, the film works very well with its minimalistic sets and decoration, giving the audience a firm representation of reality. As mentioned above, the editing is messy but the film's black and white cinematography (praise goes to Boris Kaufman) contributes essentially to the film by revealing the main protagonist's inner psychology (Nazerman is still imprisoned by his traumas which is implied by the shadows of the bars which fall on his face at the pawn shop). Quincy Jones' score, in short, is distracting and unfitting. He uses a jazzy score which seems out of place and kills the film's suspense. While the film itself succeeds in seizing the audience's attention, Jones' score does the exact opposite. It's not a bad musical score but certainly a strange and unfitting one for the film which turns out as a very bad selection.Leaving the best for last, Steiger delivers one of the finest performances in cinematic history. Watching the film ,it's truly hard to believe that Steiger is actually acting since he is overwhelmingly believable and honest in everything he does: from his facial expressions to the way we walks, Steiger is spellbinding, making us feel the pain he has been bearing. From the first moment he appears on screen, he truly makes us believe that this character has been through a lot of difficulties and by the end of the film we've seen how much Steiger has transformed into this man who has lost everything and how far he has gone as an actor. It's one of those performances which make you shiver when you see him suffer because it's performed in such a realistic and sincere way. Simply a towering performance by Steiger in a career-turning role.''The Pawnbroker'' is considered to be a rather significant film in American history, being the first to deal with the Jewish genocide from the viewpoint of a survivor. It serves as a deep examination of a character's psychology and tackles a very devastating and sensitive subject. But above all, it is Steiger's supreme performance which makes this film unforgettable.

Might be Rod Steiger's most morose and bleakest role. As an Auschwitz survivor whose family were raped and tortured there, he feels a veritable menagerie of despair because of the guilt he feels for his inability to extricate them from the camp and for the guilt he feels because he somehow managed to make it out. His job as the titled pawnbroker does nothing but fuel more fire to his dire situation in life as he is cast among the severest cases of poverty in his store's Harlem neighborhood. Added to that, he has to front his store for a despicable vice lord (Brock Peters) so that he can at least make a modicum of income.Sounds and is grim but is, to me, the quintessential ground breaker of the ultra-realistic urban life dramas that were to unfold in the latter 60's and early 70's. Rod plays his part to perfection as a lifeless, embittered old man who has seen too much in one lifetime. The aforementioned Brock Peters along with Ray St. Jacques, Jaime Sanchez (his apprentice) and others flavor this dramatic pot even more so with their poignant portrayals of their respective characters, each of whom has fallen victim to the scourges of his ghetto habitat.I shall not offer up where and how the redemptive transformation occurs in our principal, except to say watch the entire movie and see for yourself how it all unfolds. Truly, a time-tested masterpiece!

With over 200 narrative films now made about the Holocaust, few have dealt with what it means to live with the guilt of survival as The Pawnbroker does. The Pawnbroker is not only a brilliant portrayal, it is also simply one of the great films, and one that anyone interested in film should view.Rod Steiger's Nazerman is a man who has worked out how to bargain for crumbs of security in every aspect of his life. He is as emotionally blank as it's possible to be in order to deal with his repression of his memories. It is a superb portrayal by Rod Steiger - we want to sympathize with Nazerman, but are, and should be, pushed away by his lack of emotions - yet, we do understand how this is the only possible response. The whole cast give superb performances - the film has a rhythm in its speeches that draws us in, something Lumet and Billy Wilder share - Friedkin's and Fone's words are the complex score to the images - and the Quincy Jones score is a hard bebop accompaniment that augments. As the film develops we jump cut from a very grimy New York to some of the most powerful images of the camps known on film - they are not overtly horrific - but each image impacts - and impacts powerfully. Finally, inevitably, the floodgates break...Forty years after its making, The Pawnbroker remains a film that has the ability to affect the viewer deeply - it is simply a superb film and one that deserves its excellent reputation.