One of the best films you will see in SIFF's Noir City series is Samuel Fuller's Underworld U.S.A. Indeed, if we imagine noir cinema as a city, U.S.A. is located in the heart of its downtown area. Two things make it great: One, like so many of Fuller's films, U.S.A. has an insane, surreal, impossible plot. It concerns a boy (strangely named Tolly Devlin) who, after seeing his father murdered by four thugs, commits his entire life to the pursuit of vengeance. He even goes to jail to exact revenge on one of his father's killers. Of course, no normal person loves their father that much; only a madman, a monster, a miserable demon trapped in a nightmare world would go as far as Tolly does to obtain such a small amount of personal justice. Secondly, the cinematography in U.S.A. is, unlike the story, hyperrealistic. As unreal as this underworld is, the movie's crisp images and editing make it look really real. With noir, surrealism and existentialism are one. Noir City runs at SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, Feb 24–Mar 1