"The Incident", Still Powerful After All This Time
I am referring to the movie by that title released in 1967. I had the pleasure of seeing it again, for only the second time the other day with over half a century in between. Let me credit the director Larry Peerce, the well written script by Nicholas E Baer and the flawless acting of the entire cast.
The movie is set in the place and time it was made. It's late into the night in the inner city of 1967 America. (Specifically NYC). We get a glimpse of average people who all find themselves on the same subway car on their way home. Their ride home will be journey through terror - one that tests each man's inner strength and exposes the extent of a decaying society.
For those who didn't have the misfortune of having to grow up in the inner city, let me say that this movie is not an exaggeration. Similar things have happened and still do only without so many of the decent people still residing in the inner city. There has been considerable flight since then.There is no question - things have gotten worse in the 50 odd years since the movie was made. In the movie we find decent ordinary people confronted by what Truman Capote used to call "the underbelly of America." As I watched this movie for a second look, I could see that is just as potent as it was then. I thought about the liberal policies of New York's Governor and the NYC Mayor which is undermining the police and making the city less safe and diminishing what passes for the quality of life.
The lone hero emerges in the final scenes and I doubt it will be a surprise to many as to who found the courage. It is one long "chilling" ride, from that subway stop in the Bronx to the film's final destination - the Grand Central-42nd Street Station.
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