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IMDbPro

Mélodie pour un tueur

Original title: Fingers
  • 1978
  • 16
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
3K
YOUR RATING
Harvey Keitel in Mélodie pour un tueur (1978)
A dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan shark father and his mentally disturbed Jewish concert pianist mother.
Play trailer3:34
1 Video
13 Photos
CrimeDramaMusic

A dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan-shark father and his mentally-disturbed Jewish concert-pianist mother.A dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan-shark father and his mentally-disturbed Jewish concert-pianist mother.A dysfunctional young man is pulled between loyalties to his Italian mob-connected loan-shark father and his mentally-disturbed Jewish concert-pianist mother.

  • Director
    • James Toback
  • Writer
    • James Toback
  • Stars
    • Harvey Keitel
    • Tisa Farrow
    • Jim Brown
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • James Toback
    • Writer
      • James Toback
    • Stars
      • Harvey Keitel
      • Tisa Farrow
      • Jim Brown
    • 27User reviews
    • 35Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 3:34
    Trailer

    Photos13

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    Top cast48

    Edit
    Harvey Keitel
    Harvey Keitel
    • Jimmy Fingers
    Tisa Farrow
    Tisa Farrow
    • Carol
    Jim Brown
    Jim Brown
    • Dreems
    Michael V. Gazzo
    Michael V. Gazzo
    • Ben
    Marian Seldes
    Marian Seldes
    • Ruth
    Danny Aiello
    Danny Aiello
    • Butch
    Ed Marinaro
    Ed Marinaro
    • Gino
    Georgette Mosbacher
    • Anita
    • (as Georgette Muir)
    Tanya Roberts
    Tanya Roberts
    • Julie
    Carole Francis
    Carole Francis
    • Christa
    • (as Carol Francis)
    Lenny Montana
    Lenny Montana
    • Luchino
    Vasco Valladeres
    • Luchino's Son
    Tony Sirico
    Tony Sirico
    • Riccamonza
    • (as Anthony Sirico)
    Tom Signorelli
    Tom Signorelli
    • Italian Prisoner
    Dominic Chianese
    Dominic Chianese
    • Arthur Fox
    Woodrow Garrian
    • Conventioneer
    James Fields
    • Pianist
    A. Andrew Pastorio
    • Elderly Driver
    • Director
      • James Toback
    • Writer
      • James Toback
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews27

    6.72.9K
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    Featured reviews

    8SnoopyStyle

    Keitel Great

    Troubled pianist Jimmy Fingers (Harvey Keitel) pursues artist Carol (Tisa Farrow) with his radio but she is with Dreems (Jim Brown). He gets his musical skills and madness from his institutionalized mother. He's also a ruthless debt collector for his aging mobster father Ben (Michael V. Gazzo). He's the only one left working for him. His father has a large debt to collect but the arrogant gangster is refusing to pay the over-the-hill Ben.

    This is Keitel's Taxi Driver. It is lesser known and not as great. The commonality is the lead. Keitel is masterful. He has so much internal fire. He is a man ready to explode at any moment. Now, times have caught up with filmmaker James Toback recently. He's had a career of extraordinary highs and ugly lows. It doesn't get much lower than he is today. That is beside the point. For this movie, there is greatness and his name is Harvey Keitel.
    pinback-3

    A vile but fascinating character.

    Why do we want to spend the hour and a half that it takes to watch this movie in the company of a character so loathsome that we would do anything to avoid him if we met him in real life? Jimmy Fingers is arrogant, self-obsessed, sexually violent and just plain creepy. O.K., there are moments in which we get to see that he has a better side, when he comforts a destitute women who is crying in a doorway, or when he sticks by his small time hoodlum father, in spite of the fact that he is even more repellent than Fingers himself. There is so much in this movie to make you squirm from the no-holds barred, bloody violence and a painful proctological exam to the scenes in which Fingers annoys everyone in earshot by playing loud doo-wop music on his portable tape player and threatening violence towards anyone who objects. With its fine acting and totally unpredictable story-line, this film is undeniable entertaining, but it's appeal is a rather masochistic one.
    7Quinoa1984

    a very calm-cool-collectedly made film about a truly unstable being

    Well, Reservoir Dogs fans, if you've been wondering really where the film is where Mr. White plays Mr. Blonde, this might be it. Only don't expect the same form of psychopathic behavior. Keitel's Jimmy Fingers is a sort of time bomb at times needing to be either detonated or waiting to be set off, and there's even an echo too (or rather the other movie is an echo of this) in Do the Right Thing. But James Toback's script is very particular about his various, half annoying half dangerous tendencies carrying around a radio and a knack for classical music and grit. And Keitel moves in this world like a man so within his own mind that the only way he can act sometimes is in bottling it up before it comes out. It's a very tough performance to pull off, as there's more fascination in what the character completely lacks than in his virtues. It's sometimes teeters even on becoming very uncomfortable to sit through, just in the psychological sense. We may not hate Jimmy Fingers, but he can test patience like it's nothing.

    Still, Keitel makes it such a character of idiosyncrasies and at the same time a weird kind of charm that at first sort of reminded me of his debut in Who's That Knocking at My Door. He's aiming for concert pianist, of the level on Carnegie Hall standards. But his father also has him collecting/making bets, and thus getting into things of a sometimes violent and ugly nature. And there's always that radio, blasting out the 'golden oldies' of the kind they used to play on CBS FM in New York. There's even a touch of the Brando-type character in Keitel's mood and mannerisms at times, plus that compulsory sexual nature with women. Towards the end of the film this becomes almost too perverse to handle, and Toback always deals with such dicey material head-on, without pulling any tricks with the camera (in fact, he only so occasionally moves it). While the filmmaker tests the waters with possibly become unnerving and off-its-hinges with watching such unconventional material, more or less he pulls off what he wants, and Keitel is a force to be reckoned with as an actor here. He may lack the realistic volcanic force and wit of a Mr. White, but the not-totally-sadistic Mr. Blonde comes out with just a great hint of the obsessed artist in there too (and what great music there is).

    In terms of referring to the 2005 French remake, the Beat That My Heart Skipped, I found that it might be one of those rare cases where the remake does out-do the original, at least in terms of dramatic involvement and in really getting more into the relationship between the father and son (plus there was more ambiguity in terms of the young man's mind state in the French version). But Fingers still holds its own decades later by standing out in the crime genre of the period, and it's up there in Keitel's underrated cannon of work.
    7Hey_Sweden

    Worth seeing for Keitel's performance.

    "Fingers" is the offbeat, intriguing study of one dysfunctional character, Jimmy (Harvey Keitel), a man who straddles two distinct worlds. In one, he's the reluctant debt collector for his mobster father Ben (Michael V. Gazzo), and a man who won't hesitate to use violence to get the job done. However, he's also an obsessive music lover, and talented pianist with the lofty ambition of performing at Carnegie Hall. He puts off what will prove to be a brutal confrontation at the end to pursue the spaced-out Carol (Tisa Farrow). Writer / director James Toback's unique little movie is more than just the typical NYC gangster picture. It does feature excellent use of NYC locations, and it does have some very brutal moments, but is a decidedly laid back rather than intense experience, with deliberate pacing. The movie is marked by a very erotic quality, whether Jimmy is making the acquaintance of the sexually charged club owner Dreems (Jim Brown, in a captivating low key portrayal), or having an encounter with Julie (Tanya Roberts). We even get a glimpse of Keitel nudity, 14 years before he bared all in Abel Ferrara's "Bad Lieutenant". The movie has a serious, somber mood, yet at the same time is not without some humour. It's a very good vehicle for Keitel, who really throws himself into the twisted main role; other familiar faces such as Danny Aiello, Ed Marinaro, Marian Seldes, Lenny Montana, Tom Signorelli, Frank Pesce, and Zack Norman comprise the supporting cast, and the movie is now notable for co-starring two future 'Sopranos' regulars, Tony Sirico as young mobster Riccamonza and Dominic Chianese as Arthur Fox. But Keitel is truly the one to watch playing an obviously flawed, yet compelling individual with more than his fair share of psycho sexual problems, a certain arrogance, and a tendency towards explosive behaviour who also wants something more out of life. Film fans looking for something a little off the beaten path and deserving of more attention are advised to check out "Fingers", as it refrains from ever being too predictable and tells its story in a very straightforward manner. It's gritty and provocative and rather memorable as well; it's not for all tastes but is rewarding for those who seek it out. Seven out of 10.
    Doctor_Bombay

    An educated look at the underside of life.

    Many times over the years James Toback has been referred to as ‘brilliant', and a good deal of those times the film ‘Fingers' is mentioned in the same sentence.

    It stands right there with Resevoir Dogs, Bad Lieutenant, and Mean Streets-all Harvey Keitel films which have over the years gotten far more applause than they did earlier..

    Actually the premise is just enough unique: the concert pianist from the wrong side of the tracks, the carefree and confused collector for his bookie father.

    Toback's dialogue is very raw, but it is on target for the very raw world he describes.

    Michael Gazzo gives one of his best performances ever as Keitel's father.

    Not to be missed, but if you look to Toback to recreate this magic with his later efforts, ‘The Pick-Up Artist' or `Exposed', don't waste your time. Even his recent `Two Girls and a Guy' might have been `Two Mil Down the Drain' without the superb performance of Robert Downey Jr.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      James Toback claims in the DVD director's commentary that Michael V. Gazzo, who was fond of a drink, bribed him for a pitcher of Bloody Marys, in exchange for an unscripted line that would "make the scene" in question: the line was "I should have strangled you in your crib." and Gazzo delivered it "under the influence", Toback having been true to his word.
    • Quotes

      Jimmy: [to a girl he's just met] I want it from you.

      Julie: Want what?

      Jimmy: Love.

      Julie: Why? Do you love me?

      Jimmy: No, I'm in love with a girl called Carol. I love your...

      Julie: My what?

      Jimmy: Your pussy.

      Julie: How do you know that?

      Jimmy: Of all the different kinds of pussy in the world; soft, hot, gravel, velvet, cold, wet, big, small, there's only one kind I can feel in my blood on sight. And that's silk, which is yours.

    • Alternate versions
      In the German TV version, the violent climax of the movie is slightly cut.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: What's Wrong with Home Video (1988)
    • Soundtracks
      Now Is Forever
      Music by George Barrie

      Lyrics by Sammy Cahn

      Italian lyrics by Pat Noto

      Sung by Jerry Vale

      Released by Buddah Records

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    FAQ15

    • How long is Fingers?Powered by Alexa
    • Soundtrack : what's the name of the pianist who plays Bach's toccata (BWV914) ?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 23, 1978 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Fingers
    • Filming locations
      • Sutton Place Park, 57th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(Jimmy's encounter with a cop)
    • Production companies
      • Brut Productions
      • Fingers Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $1,300,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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