Cruising 4K 1980

A certain maniac brutally kills with a knife representatives of homosexuality. He chooses those representatives of homosexuality who are also into sado-masochism. In addition, severed human body parts are occasionally found in coastal areas. To investigate these bloody crimes in the “den of snakes” is sent undercover police officer - Steve Burns. He plays the role of a kind of bait, but will he be able to keep his sanity, constantly being among perverts and sadists? And who is the killer?

Rare representative of the genre “detective” can surprise as much as it manages to Friedkin's picture. The movie starts quite standard: a young cop, played by Al Pacino, cherishing the dream of a detective's badge agrees to a non-trivial task - to become “his” among gay masochists, in whose circle there appeared a madman, deftly wielding a knife. But Steve, the hero's name, has no idea what he will have to face. Plunged into an alien “sea” of perverted pleasures and disgusting orgies, dirty innuendos and no less dirty actions, Steve gradually loses his own self, terrified of the possibility of never escaping from the other world that has gripped him.

Steve's attempts to find and neutralize the relentless killer turn out to be a journey inside his own mind, and perhaps that is where the answer lies.

Skillfully confusing the viewer, Friedkin does not hurry to give him a clear answer. The finale does not bring the long-awaited relief, but only leaves more questions: why does the first victim in the next murder case turn into a killer? How do we explain the fact that the voice of the killer heard by the audience does not belong to the caught criminal, even though he is obviously guilty?

The similarity of victims and killers, their practical identity, and the absence of a precisely defined identity of the maniac (or maniacs) serves as a metaphor for the fact that one madman will always be replaced by another. No less cruel and dangerous, thirsting for blood and death no less, but even more than his predecessor.

For Friedkin, “Cruising” is also an opportunity to look inside human nature. How long will a normal person remain so, if he is surrounded by perverts and scum? How long will he be able to fight the dark side of his soul, will he not break under the weight of the circumstances that fell on him? How long will he be able to hold back the beast that rushes out? And will he be able to?

Split personality and schizophrenic delirium, nervous exhaustion and an abundance of naked male bodies, bloody murders and a hero on the verge of madness. Bound together they are an outlandish-looking “something” gravitating towards a psychological thriller, or a sluggish detective, in order to eventually leave the viewer in complete bewilderment as to the denouement. One has to speculate after watching it. There is simply no time left during.

“Cruising” is an experimental movie. Was the experiment successful? Ask yourself after watching it. Unpredictable - that's just about the movie.