endorse

There are two things that we can assure without fear of being wrong. First, the strong point of Netflix’s catalog is not the classics: other platforms such as HBO, Disney+, Filmin or FlixOlé are infinitely more stocked with films not tied to current events. Second, everyone likes it ‘The coup’. It is infallible: the charisma of its cast, its sparkling sense of humor, its legendary soundtrack and its adorable classicism make seeing it again today still a joy. Luckily, the stars have aligned and you can now enjoy this sensational gangster comedy, unexpectedly, on Netflix. ‘The Coup’ brought together Paul Newman, Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill four years after ‘Two Men and a Fate’. The script, written by David S. Ward, is inspired by the real-life scams of brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff and set in 1936 Chicago, it follows an apprentice con artist (Robert Redford) who teams up with a veteran (Paul Newman) to avenge the death of a friend by conning mobster Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). Bathed in a sublime episodic structure (with sections presented with cards that imitate the covers of the ‘Saturday Evening Post’) that announces to the viewer each phase of the scam, this is also a film that plays to scam the viewer: it shows its cards while deceiving you with others. A playful script with vibrant dialogue is one of the strong points of the film, which at the 46th edition of the Oscars, in 1974, won seven awards out of ten nominations: Best Film, Direction, Original Screenplay, Editing, Artistic Direction, Costume Design and Adapted Soundtrack. Among the most remembered ingredients of the film is the soundtrack, which has a peculiarity. Marvin Hamlisch adapted compositions by ragtime by Scott Joplin, despite the fact that the genre had already lost its validity twenty years before 1936, when the plot takes place. The fantasy worked anyway: the soundtrack went to number one… in the seventies. It was one of the key elements that helped turn ‘The Coup’ into a cultural phenomenon. In Xataka | Tomorrow the animated spin-off of the platform’s only powerful franchise premieres on Netflix: ‘Stranger Things’