"There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them."

One night in New York City. A woman mops the floor of an empty theater. A newspaperman types at his desk. A radio broadcaster changes the record. And in a dark apartment, a woman is murdered. So begins the investigation into the death of model Jean Dexter, just another tale of crime in the city that never sleeps.

One of the most influential crime dramas ever made, Jules Dassin's The Naked City is a police procedural distinguished by its forensic attention to detail. That precision applies not only to the investigative process at the center of the narrative, but also to the city itself. Drawing on fast-shooting techniques honed through years of wartime documentary filmmaking, the film was shot across 107 locations throughout New York, capturing the city with an immediacy and authenticity rarely seen in Hollywood cinema at the time. This naturalism complements the attention the film pays to the rhythms of everyday life among countless New Yorkers, making it an invaluable portrait of the city. As the film’s narrator, producer and former influential New York journalist Mark Hellinger, notes in the opening narration, "This is a story of a number of people, and a story also of the city itself."

[Program Introduction]
9.29 (Tue) 13:30 The Naked City
Young Jin Eric Choi (Cinematheque KOFA Programmer)