John Boorman’s Hollywood debut reframes film noir for a new era of filmmaking. Lee Marvin is Walker, a gangster shot point blank and left for dead on Alcatraz by his partner, who steals Walker’s money – and his wife.
Walker is bent on seeking revenge on the people who double crossed him, and as he scours the criminal underworld of LA for those to blame, nothing will get in his way. Shot in blinding Californian sunshine rather than night-time shadow and influenced stylistically by the French New Wave, this cool, minimalist thriller, driven by Lee Marvin ‘s characteristic toughness, is one of the iconic films of the 1960s.
