Budapest Classic Film Marathon: The Pawnbroker

Director: Sidney Lumet

Screenplay by Morton S. Fine, David Friedkin
Director of photography: Boris Kaufman
Music by Quincy Jones
Cast:  Rod Steiger, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brock Peters

Story variations for absurdist voices / Films recommended by Gyula Gazdag 

Introduction: Gyula Gazdag, film director

Edward Lewis Wallant's novel of the same title was first published in 1961. Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger) is a 45-year-old Polish immigrant who used to be a university professor in Krakow before World War II. At the time of the story, he keeps a pawnshop in East Harlem, New York. The absurdity of his existence stems from pressure to adapt to his constantly changing surroundings and his struggle with his haunting Holocaust memories. adapted for the screen with keen accuracy by Sidney Lumet, Rod Steiger and the screenwriters (Morton S. Fine, David Friedkin, and Edward Lewis Wallant).

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