The Untouchables, the film directed by Brian De Palma in 1987 with a star-studded cast (Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro), probably aspires to a place in the top 10 of the greatest gangster movies in cinema history.
With a box office gross of over 100 million dollars, the film has remained in the collective memory also for an unusually exaggerated performance by Robert De Niro, in the role of Al Capone. The actor left us with a memorable portrayal, while one of his lines has become a saying in the Italian translation.
The line is “you’re just all talk and a badge,” spoken by the character Al Capone to Elliot Ness, the federal agent played by Kevin Costner. How many times have you heard this expression? Now you know (if you didn’t already) that it is a translation of “you got nothing. You’re nothing but a lot of talk and a badge!”.
Below is the video of the scene. Ferruccio Amendola did the dubbing for De Niro, in splendid form.
Despite the prohibition in the United States – this is the plot of The Untouchables – a mobster, Al Capone, continues his illegal liquor trade. A federal agent, Eliot Ness, is tasked with exposing Capone’s illegal dealings and bringing him to justice.
The cast, in addition to the already mentioned actors, also includes Charles Martin Smith, Billy Drago, Richard Bradford, Jack Kehoe, Brad Sullivan, Patricia Clarkson, Michael Byrne, Don Harvey, Chelcie Ross, Jennifer Anglin, Mike Bacarella, Joe Greco.
I watch movies and play video games, and at a certain point in life, I started writing about them. I’m fascinated by the hidden corners of the internet, the graphics of early 3D video games, and the images that fall under the somewhat undefined umbrella of the term aesthetic, for which I pursue a compulsive cataloging activity that culminates in some Instagram profiles. The TV series with the best aesthetic (and the best overall) is still X-Files, which I have never finished because I cannot conceive the thought “there are no more episodes of X-Files to watch for the rest of my life.” The same goes for Evangelion (the manga).