Last year, I had a bit more time on my hands (it was B.W., “Before Westley”) and I would make an effort to watch a few modern films among my classic screening list. It was then that I first watched “Zodiac”, the terrific film by David Fincher. In the film, Inspector Toschi (played by Mark Ruffalo) walks out of a screening of “Dirty Harry”, frustrated that the film modeled after his case made a mockery of due process (a great contrast with an investigation marred by bureaucratic road-blocks). This excellent use of film-in-film made "Dirty Harry" an immediate 'must watch' for me.
Loosely based on the actual Zodiac Killer murders, "Dirty Harry" follows Inspector Harry Callahan, a rough, cool, and creative cop who is always stuck with the “dirty” jobs. Harry takes up the case of “Scorpio”, a serial killer who prays on innocents from a distance with his sniper rifle. With several dead bodies in his wake, Scorpio is about to extort a ransom from the City of San Francisco when he is captured and tortured by Harry into revealing his secrets. This failure to follow due process returns Scorpio to the streets and Harry must choose between what’s legal and what’s right in dealing with the menace.
Let’s cut to the chase, Dirty Harry is so f*ckign cool. A founding member of the “loose-cannon cop” cinematic trope, Dirty Harry brought Eastwood’s classic anti-hero character into the modern age. The film was really well assembled, with dark, suspenseful sequences, quippy humor, and cool music. Eastwood’s delivery of his classic “'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do you, punk?” line is probably a top 10 line/monologue in all of American film. But it was the act three “twist”—the admission that Harry’s outside-the-law tactics actually hurt his case, that gave the film depth and plot-integrity needed to grant the final sequence's dramatic license.
For me, that is what was most exciting about “Dirty Harry”. This film is a relic of a time when America was afraid of rampant serial killers but is an enduring example of the conflict presented by our Constitution. Though we pride ourselves on our 230 year old body of law, “Dirty Harry” asks uncomfortable questions about how appropriately these legal traditions adapt to an insane psychopath. While I don’t ultimately agree with the reaches this film takes, I think it frames up the conflicts of our time—to what degree do we wish to preserve speech, or guns, or privacy, or due process in the era of disconnect, terrorism, misinformation, and insanity.