The Fixer (1968)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In 1969 while in Basic Training at Fort ORD, California our Company viewed this movie. Being 1969 and all that was happening at that time and as basic trainees, in an infantry company, 18 to 21 years of age, most destined for Vietnam, most had few things in our minds beyond our survival in the months to come. The strength, determination and courage in the face of oppression, constant disappointment and the insurmountable odds of survival unified all 120+ of us to a standing ovation of applause and cheering at the end. We all came from such different backgrounds, Watts, Oklahoma, East LA, Salt Lake City, Montana and Chicago. We were all of different ethnic backgrounds, Hispanic, Black, Irish, Catholic etc. None of us knew of Jewish life in Tzarist Russian. All felt a bond with "The Fixer", a victim of times, prejudice and "The System".For many of us, the move, "The Fixer" did more than just occupy an afternoon away from military training. It connected us with a spirit, a humanness to deal with and hopefully survive adversity. To this day the other message I carry is that every act we do is a political statement. Even the act of being, "Apolitical" is a statement of politics.A Great & Poignant Movie that should be included in everyones film experiences!

When people think of anti-Semitism, they usually think of Hitler's Third Reich. But equally as bad was czarist Russia. In "The Fixer", Yakov Bok (Alan Bates) is a Jewish man who leaves the Pale (the area in Eastern Europe to which Jews were relegated) to work for someone. When they discover that he is a Jew, they imprison him on a trumped-up charge. Specifically, government bureaucrat Grubeshov (Ian Holm) believes that Jews are downright untrustworthy.The movie also shows how Yakov has to hide his background once he leaves the ghetto. In one scene, he is about to have sex with aristocrat Zinaida (Elizabeth Hartman), but he realizes that she will see that he is circumcised, and so he leaves.We can clearly see how anti-Semitic feelings were alive and well long before Hitler came to power. It's always important to remember these kinds of things.

When is John Frankenheimer going to get the recognition he deserves as a true original film artist? A number of his films are either barely released or completely unreleased (99 and 44/100% Dead, The Challenge, The Fourth War). Many of Frankenheimer's films dealt with the fight for social justice and human compassion and The Fixer definitely falls into this category. Alan Bates is terrific as a Russian Jew who "passes" for Gentile and decides to work for an anti-Semite for money. He's later accused by the authorities of a child murder he did not commit and must endure endless torture by the Czarist Russians to keep from confessing. Frankenheimer's experience, directing many plays for Golden Age of Television shows like Playhouse 90, demonstrates perfectly that he can master effective facial close-ups and enhance the great dialogue. So few American films can be brave enough to actually talk about ideas without having to always resort to action to appease those out there with short attention spans. Well, Frankenheimer can deliver the action goods (note Ronin and The Train), but give him credit for embracing the influence of great foreign films' sense of introspection. The claustrophobic atmosphere of the prison is so immense that the final scene is one of the most exhilarating I've felt in quite a while. Credit Trumbo also with creating a hero who is not totally perfect by any means. Yakov Bok had not only betrayed his heritage by working for anti-Semites, but also, as we learn later, is out of touch with relating to his family. Dirk Bogarde is also quite good as Bok's defense counsel as is a young Ian Holm as a sadistic Russian official.

It is not often that cinema can do justice to a great novel. This one brings out the existential questions of the lead character Yakov Blok in an honest manner, true to the original. I think I would place the credit more with screenplaywriter Dalton Trumbo for this effort. He did not even change some of the key lines of the book. I wonder what Malamud would have thought of the script.Frankenheimer needs praise in some sequences, the prison sequences and the seduction sequence--but what amuses me no end is why he chose to cast the three actresses who speak their lines with no care for even a semblance of being East European. Alan Bates, Dirk Bogarde, Hugh Griffith, David Warner and Ian Holm are all good actors but Frankenheimer made no effort to make them speak like Russians or East Europeans. Bogarde is predictable in his role, but Alan Bates carried the film. He alone played his role with conviction. Maurice Jarre's music was good but not his best.Like "Gandhi" this film will be remembered because of the subject, not because of its cinema. The true hero was not Bates, not Trumbo, not Frankenheimer--it was Malamud!