It was The Wanderers against the world ... and the world never had a chance!
The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’
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Rumble in the Bronx. The Wanderers, an Italian street gang in the Bronx 1963, preparing for a rumble with rival gang the Del-Bombers, try to enlist other gangs to help their cause. However, as the times are a changing, The Wanderers and all the other gangs of the city must come to terms with pending adulthood, and, the ending of an era. Directed by Phillip Kaufman, this adaptation of Richard Price's novel stands up as one of the best pictures to deal with gang culture. Laced with crackling adolescent humour, and sublimely sound tracked, The Wanderers triumphs better than most because it captures the time frame perfectly. Encompassing the killing of JFK, and subtly showing (during an hilarious sequence) the enlisting of ignorant youths into the Marines, to be carted off to Vietnam no doubt, The Wanderers has far more to offer than merely angst and high school jinx. The cast are surprisingly strong, Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, Tony Ganios and Erland van Lidth all shine in their respective roles, whilst Kaufman directs with a knowing sense of purpose of the thematics to hand. All of which culminates in a quite eerie final third as the deadly Ducky Boys enter the fray. Not quite as serious as The Warriors, which was released the same year, it's a film that much like this one now feels part of my teen education. The Wanderers is however the smarter picture of the two in terms of substance. The coming together at the finale, the racial harmony bursting out from the screen, is and always should be eternally embraced. All together now, "I'm the type of guy who will never settle down" 8/10
_The Wanderers_ definitely isn’t perfect—some moments felt awkward and dated, especially that uncomfortable racist word battle, which made me cringe more than once. But if I look past those issues, there’s plenty here to enjoy, particularly as a lively jukebox film with echoes of American Graffiti and The Last Picture Show. It nailed the nostalgic beats for me, nicely capturing teenage friendships, rivalries, and classic coming-of-age drama. I could sense the director’s genuine fondness for his 60s youth, balanced with a welcome dash of 70s/80s grit. Sure, it’s uneven, occasionally clumsy, and won’t win prizes for subtlety, but the cracking soundtrack alone kept me hooked. If, like me, you’re partial to movies that whisk you back to a slightly romanticised past, you could do far worse than spending an evening with this one. Imperfect, yes, but undeniably good fun.
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