The Untouchables (70mm)

About this event

Dir. Brian De Palma. 1987, 119 mins. 70mm. With Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy García, Robert De Niro. Master craftsman De Palma collaborated with playwright David Mamet to adapt the 1950s ABC television series—itself an adaptation of Elliot Ness’s autobiography—into one of the great cinematic achievements of the 1980s. In the performance that helped launch him to stardom, Costner plays Ness, a lawman in Prohibition-era Chicago tracking notorious criminal kingpin Al Capone (De Niro), whose net of influence over the city extends to officers in Ness’s own department. He teams with a fearless veteran Irish cop (Connery, in an Oscar-winning performance) and principled Italian American rookie (Garcia) to pursue justice in the face of overwhelming criminality and corruption. Never one to shy away from a challenge, De Palma shoots the hell out of The Untouchables, assisting universally strong performances with majestic framing, virtuosic movement, and undaunted violence. And yes, during an elaborate showdown in Chicago’s Union Station, he directly apes the Odessa Steps sequence from Eisenstein’s Potemkin—one of the best-known scenes in the history of cinema—not as a winking homage, but with the confidence that he can exceed it. Tickets: $25 / 25% discount for MoMI members. There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission.