Richard Gere and Andy Garcia face off as cops on opposite sides of the law in Internal Affairs. New to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber.
The Film
I think I was watching the wrong Richard Gere. Throughout my childhood Gere was the star of Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Sommersby*, An Officer and a Gentleman… romantic figures etched by the charismatic actor with a distant sort of mystery. It’s not the kind of work that a young teenage male is drawn to. It wasn’t until the last few years that I started to examine Gere’s work, seeing the darker side that was always there but this viewer never bothered to notice.
Internal Affairs may be Gere’s masterstroke of intelligent, swarmy villainy and masculinity. Dennis Peck fits Gere as well as one of the tailored Armani Suits from American Gigolo. Peck is the center of corruption and manipulation of an LAPD precinct. Drug, corruption, prostitution, murder, you name it, Peck is at the center of it. It’s the blatant corruption that puts him under the gaze of newly minted AI Sargent Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia). They are two sides of the same coin. They’re hate at first sight and will destroy one another and take everyone around them down with them.
Internal Affairs is a film that released today would be the same hit for a studio as it was in 1990. Yes, 35 years have passed but the film’s story of police corruption and manipulation is still as riveting and vital as it was back then. Yes, TV shows like The Shield have tempered similar ground but Internal Affairs is a pure shot condensed into a less than 2-hour run time that elevates it. There’s a sense of sexual politics at play that even elevated Television wouldn’t tackle that’s omnipresent here. More akin to the work of Sam Peckinpah though not as brutal – Internal Affairs and its antagonist, Dennis Peck, understands the machismo of Avila is the only weak point and exploits it. This is where the Othello-like game of chess of Internal Affairs plays out between the two men going to progressively darker places that end in the type of violence that isn’t just impactful but bracing in a way few police procedurals are or ever aspire to be.
Beyond the film itself the cast is uniformly excellent with stellar performances by its supporting cast. Laurie Metcalf is the standout as Avila’s partner Amy Wallace. The work is so subtle one could miss just how great she is the in the first viewings. Watch her as her male counterparts dig at every part of her being and how those respites are taken. It’s a great performance and one that’s as good or even better than Garcia and Gere’s.
It is no wonder that William Baldwin got so much work post-Internal Affairs. As Stretch the dumb oafish drug-addicted younger right hand to Gere’s Peck he’s unencumbered by vanity. Baldwin isn’t afraid that Stretch looks as repugnant as Peck just in a different way. Nancy Travis, Faye Grant, Katherine Borowitz, and Annabelle Sicora do exemplary work here as the various women in these toxic men’s lives.
Though in the end even though Garcia gets first credit, Internal Affairs, belongs to Richard Gere. Without his truly menacing performance as Dennis Peck, the film would just be a standard issue police procedure. It’s Gere’s charisma and star power put to use by Figgis – in the similar manner Paul Schrader did in American Gigolo – skewering it to a darker edger intent that electrifies Internal Affairs. Elevating it to a true undiscovered neo-classic.
*This reviewer has a lot of love for the Nicholas Meyer scripted remake of The Return of Martin Guerre.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 16bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative looks fantastic. The respect Kino Lorber’s recent 4K transfers have shown for all their recent releases is amazing, that can be especially so with this transfer for Internal Affairs. The work done here is simply jaw-dropping. The film literally looks like it was filmed yesterday. The transfer is sharp and clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels because of the Dolby Vision encoding are both deeper in their details giving us a darker luminous and far more textured and beautiful image. There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or issue with the picture. It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove the grain. Internal Affairs in its 4K UHD iteration is near a perfect mirroring of its 35mm origins.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
Audio Commentary by Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
Audio Commentary by Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini
The Clever and the Corrupt: Interview with Director Mike Figgis
His Most Dangerous Weapon: Interview with Screenwriter Henry Bean
One Bad Cop: Interview with Co-Composer Anthony Marinelli
Extended & Deleted Scenes
Alternate Ending
Theatrical Trailer
Note: The Commentary track appears on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs.
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
The all-new Audio Commentary by Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini begins with defining what Neo Noir is and the importance of Mike Figgis one of the lesser-known Neo Noir directors. Some of the other details include the work of cinematographer John A. Alonzo – including his work in Chinatown; the visual style that Figgis and Alonzo use to code the nature of characters intent – be it good or malicious; the depiction of abuse towards women; Figgis inclusion of LBGTQ and POC characters portraying police officers – which was a rarity at the time but something he was insistent on; the real life onset relationship between Gere and Garcia – including an onset incident; the relationship between Garcia’s and Laurie Metcalf’s characters and how unique it is to this film; the sexual politics and relationships in the film with all of the characters but specifically with Peck and Avila; a discussion of the disappearance of this adult themed material such as Internal Affairs and Mike Figgis work – its transition to Cable TV in the early 2000s and Figgis even directing TV such as The Sopranos; a larger discussion of the action set pieces and Figgis intent taking them on with such detail and style; a discussion of the various police procedurals that were released at the time and how Internal Affairs was different than the norms; a discussion of the various procedural noir’s from the classic era that differ from this film and some that line up with this film, specifically Touch of Evil; the work here and at the time of Andy Garcia; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; a larger discussion of the use of real life Los Angeles locations – most in the San Fernando Valley; and much more. Silver and Ursini deliver an informative commentary track.
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The Clever and the Corrupt: Interview with Director Mike Figgis (33:16) – in this all-new interview with Figgis begins with receiving the script by Henry Bean – and loving it – and the competition for the directing assignment and Andy Garcia championing him for the assignment. Some of the other details include his lack of power during the production and how he navigated the film during the development and production; the casting of the Dennis Peck character – including Kurt Russell’s surprising ideas about the character; bringing on Richard Gere; Garcia’s method acting and how it affected the set; how Gere and Garcia’s real life political views affected the set; the dynamic shift of being an Andy Garcia vehicle to a co-vehicle between Garcia and Gere once it became clear that Gere’s character began to elevate; the elevator scene and how it evolved both during production and during its test screening; the way the script handle the male sexual jealousy aspect of the story – and how he began to use it throughout his career after this film; the cutting of one of the sex scenes and reasons why; the exacting use of violence in the film – both in the script and how he directed it, including ensuring that those moments were powerful and not over the top or too many acts of violence to diminish the film’s power; an onset issue that occurred during one of the film’s stunts that occurred with Gere during a pivotal scene; the score and how he came to co-compose the film – and how Robert Towne helped secure his role; the original ending and a discussion the reshoot and the troubles behind the scenes to get it completed before release; and much more.
His Most Dangerous Weapon: Interview with Screenwriter Henry Bean (25:06) – in this all-new interview with Bean begins with how relationships on an earlier project led to the writing assignment for Internal Affairs – his rejections but then eventual inspiration from research turned to taking on the project. Some of the details include how he created Dennis Peck – the character played by Richard Gere; and his approach to the portrayal of cops as working people, some smart, some not so smart, that are not heroes – because the heroes are few and far between; his focus on the police of the San Fernando Valley – and their specific domestic issues and how it translated to their work; the influence of Othello – when it came to the angles that Peck pushes with Avila to get under his skin in a power play; how he researched the internal affairs department and approached the writing of those types of police officers; how he structured the film and how unique the story was because of how it was assigned to him; Kurt Russell was initially cast before Gere – and how they came to Gere after Russell wasn’t able to be cast; the hiring of Mike Figgis – and a discussion of the collaboration with the director; and much more.
One Bad Cop: Interview with Co-Composer Anthony Marinelli (16:49) – an all-new interview with Marinelli opens with a discussion of his work on Stand by Me and Young Guns which led to fixing some queues on Trains, Planes and Automobiles – which led to the working with Mike Figgis (who co-composed the film) on Internal Affairs. Some of the details include how their collaboration with Mike Figgis worked; their assembling of soloists – both vocal and instrumentalists – and how they began to create the score; how it both adheres to noir conventions and defies them; Figgis’s use of score and how at the time it was very different but in line with scoring in the current era; and much more.
Extended & Deleted Scenes (31:58) – the collection of deleted and extended scenes that aren’t accessed individually but do have chapter stops.
Original Opening (3:54) – a collection of odds and ends that didn’t make the opening adding in John Getz who was entirely cut from the film.
Raymond meets Peck (4:57) – an alternate version of Avila sizing up Peck – seen in the original trailer.
Raymond comes home/Stretch Interview/Peck Meets the Horkius (4:29) – more John Getz, entirely deleted seen where we meet the couple that Peck was paid to kill.
Stretch is killed/Raymond and Kathy fight (5:10) – both extended scenes.
Horkius walks in on his wife with Peck/Heather gives up her Husband (3:44) – extended more explicit version of the scene.
Alternate ending (10:18) – discussed below.
Alternate Ending (10:18) – far less effective ending than used in the final film. Though interesting and a lot more drawn out, it doesn’t work for the tightly scripted film as a whole. It should be noted that this was pulled/transferred from an internegative or interpositive whereas the same Alternate Ending appearing on the Extended & Deleted Scenes appears to have been pulled from a VHS rip. The quality here is FAR SUPERIOR and should be watched here.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Internal Affairs (2:00); No Mercy (2:13); Twisted (2:03); Clockers(2:28); Bad Lieutenant (3:20)
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has delivered another excellent 4K UHD special edition for a truly worthy title. Highest recommendations!!!
Richard Gere and Andy Garcia face off as cops on opposite sides of the law in Internal Affairs. New to 4K UHD from Kino Lorber.
The Film
I think I was watching the wrong Richard Gere. Throughout my childhood Gere was the star of Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Sommersby*, An Officer and a Gentleman… romantic figures etched by the charismatic actor with a distant sort of mystery. It’s not the kind of work that a young teenage male is drawn to. It wasn’t until the last few years that I started to examine Gere’s work, seeing the darker side that was always there but this viewer never bothered to notice.
Internal Affairs may be Gere’s masterstroke of intelligent, swarmy villainy and masculinity. Dennis Peck fits Gere as well as one of the tailored Armani Suits from American Gigolo. Peck is the center of corruption and manipulation of an LAPD precinct. Drug, corruption, prostitution, murder, you name it, Peck is at the center of it. It’s the blatant corruption that puts him under the gaze of newly minted AI Sargent Raymond Avila (Andy Garcia). They are two sides of the same coin. They’re hate at first sight and will destroy one another and take everyone around them down with them.
Internal Affairs is a film that released today would be the same hit for a studio as it was in 1990. Yes, 35 years have passed but the film’s story of police corruption and manipulation is still as riveting and vital as it was back then. Yes, TV shows like The Shield have tempered similar ground but Internal Affairs is a pure shot condensed into a less than 2-hour run time that elevates it. There’s a sense of sexual politics at play that even elevated Television wouldn’t tackle that’s omnipresent here. More akin to the work of Sam Peckinpah though not as brutal – Internal Affairs and its antagonist, Dennis Peck, understands the machismo of Avila is the only weak point and exploits it. This is where the Othello-like game of chess of Internal Affairs plays out between the two men going to progressively darker places that end in the type of violence that isn’t just impactful but bracing in a way few police procedurals are or ever aspire to be.
Beyond the film itself the cast is uniformly excellent with stellar performances by its supporting cast. Laurie Metcalf is the standout as Avila’s partner Amy Wallace. The work is so subtle one could miss just how great she is the in the first viewings. Watch her as her male counterparts dig at every part of her being and how those respites are taken. It’s a great performance and one that’s as good or even better than Garcia and Gere’s.
It is no wonder that William Baldwin got so much work post-Internal Affairs. As Stretch the dumb oafish drug-addicted younger right hand to Gere’s Peck he’s unencumbered by vanity. Baldwin isn’t afraid that Stretch looks as repugnant as Peck just in a different way. Nancy Travis, Faye Grant, Katherine Borowitz, and Annabelle Sicora do exemplary work here as the various women in these toxic men’s lives.
Though in the end even though Garcia gets first credit, Internal Affairs, belongs to Richard Gere. Without his truly menacing performance as Dennis Peck, the film would just be a standard issue police procedure. It’s Gere’s charisma and star power put to use by Figgis – in the similar manner Paul Schrader did in American Gigolo – skewering it to a darker edger intent that electrifies Internal Affairs. Elevating it to a true undiscovered neo-classic.
*This reviewer has a lot of love for the Nicholas Meyer scripted remake of The Return of Martin Guerre.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 16bit 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative looks fantastic. The respect Kino Lorber’s recent 4K transfers have shown for all their recent releases is amazing, that can be especially so with this transfer for Internal Affairs. The work done here is simply jaw-dropping. The film literally looks like it was filmed yesterday. The transfer is sharp and clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative. The color reproduction and contrast levels because of the Dolby Vision encoding are both deeper in their details giving us a darker luminous and far more textured and beautiful image. There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or issue with the picture. It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove the grain. Internal Affairs in its 4K UHD iteration is near a perfect mirroring of its 35mm origins.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
Note: The Commentary track appears on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs.
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
The all-new Audio Commentary by Film Critics Alain Silver and James Ursini begins with defining what Neo Noir is and the importance of Mike Figgis one of the lesser-known Neo Noir directors. Some of the other details include the work of cinematographer John A. Alonzo – including his work in Chinatown; the visual style that Figgis and Alonzo use to code the nature of characters intent – be it good or malicious; the depiction of abuse towards women; Figgis inclusion of LBGTQ and POC characters portraying police officers – which was a rarity at the time but something he was insistent on; the real life onset relationship between Gere and Garcia – including an onset incident; the relationship between Garcia’s and Laurie Metcalf’s characters and how unique it is to this film; the sexual politics and relationships in the film with all of the characters but specifically with Peck and Avila; a discussion of the disappearance of this adult themed material such as Internal Affairs and Mike Figgis work – its transition to Cable TV in the early 2000s and Figgis even directing TV such as The Sopranos; a larger discussion of the action set pieces and Figgis intent taking them on with such detail and style; a discussion of the various police procedurals that were released at the time and how Internal Affairs was different than the norms; a discussion of the various procedural noir’s from the classic era that differ from this film and some that line up with this film, specifically Touch of Evil; the work here and at the time of Andy Garcia; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; a larger discussion of the use of real life Los Angeles locations – most in the San Fernando Valley; and much more. Silver and Ursini deliver an informative commentary track.
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
The Clever and the Corrupt: Interview with Director Mike Figgis (33:16) – in this all-new interview with Figgis begins with receiving the script by Henry Bean – and loving it – and the competition for the directing assignment and Andy Garcia championing him for the assignment. Some of the other details include his lack of power during the production and how he navigated the film during the development and production; the casting of the Dennis Peck character – including Kurt Russell’s surprising ideas about the character; bringing on Richard Gere; Garcia’s method acting and how it affected the set; how Gere and Garcia’s real life political views affected the set; the dynamic shift of being an Andy Garcia vehicle to a co-vehicle between Garcia and Gere once it became clear that Gere’s character began to elevate; the elevator scene and how it evolved both during production and during its test screening; the way the script handle the male sexual jealousy aspect of the story – and how he began to use it throughout his career after this film; the cutting of one of the sex scenes and reasons why; the exacting use of violence in the film – both in the script and how he directed it, including ensuring that those moments were powerful and not over the top or too many acts of violence to diminish the film’s power; an onset issue that occurred during one of the film’s stunts that occurred with Gere during a pivotal scene; the score and how he came to co-compose the film – and how Robert Towne helped secure his role; the original ending and a discussion the reshoot and the troubles behind the scenes to get it completed before release; and much more.
His Most Dangerous Weapon: Interview with Screenwriter Henry Bean (25:06) – in this all-new interview with Bean begins with how relationships on an earlier project led to the writing assignment for Internal Affairs – his rejections but then eventual inspiration from research turned to taking on the project. Some of the details include how he created Dennis Peck – the character played by Richard Gere; and his approach to the portrayal of cops as working people, some smart, some not so smart, that are not heroes – because the heroes are few and far between; his focus on the police of the San Fernando Valley – and their specific domestic issues and how it translated to their work; the influence of Othello – when it came to the angles that Peck pushes with Avila to get under his skin in a power play; how he researched the internal affairs department and approached the writing of those types of police officers; how he structured the film and how unique the story was because of how it was assigned to him; Kurt Russell was initially cast before Gere – and how they came to Gere after Russell wasn’t able to be cast; the hiring of Mike Figgis – and a discussion of the collaboration with the director; and much more.
One Bad Cop: Interview with Co-Composer Anthony Marinelli (16:49) – an all-new interview with Marinelli opens with a discussion of his work on Stand by Me and Young Guns which led to fixing some queues on Trains, Planes and Automobiles – which led to the working with Mike Figgis (who co-composed the film) on Internal Affairs. Some of the details include how their collaboration with Mike Figgis worked; their assembling of soloists – both vocal and instrumentalists – and how they began to create the score; how it both adheres to noir conventions and defies them; Figgis’s use of score and how at the time it was very different but in line with scoring in the current era; and much more.
Extended & Deleted Scenes (31:58) – the collection of deleted and extended scenes that aren’t accessed individually but do have chapter stops.
Alternate Ending (10:18) – far less effective ending than used in the final film. Though interesting and a lot more drawn out, it doesn’t work for the tightly scripted film as a whole. It should be noted that this was pulled/transferred from an internegative or interpositive whereas the same Alternate Ending appearing on the Extended & Deleted Scenes appears to have been pulled from a VHS rip. The quality here is FAR SUPERIOR and should be watched here.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Internal Affairs (2:00); No Mercy (2:13); Twisted (2:03); Clockers(2:28); Bad Lieutenant (3:20)
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has delivered another excellent 4K UHD special edition for a truly worthy title. Highest recommendations!!!
Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Internal Affairs is out now.
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