When this film was released in 1978, it was nothing like what McQueen fans had come to expect, myself included. It dumbfounded both critics and fans alike. The reason why is now so very clear: It was decades ahead of it's time. The core plot is about unclean water, but it goes further into climate change, which at that time was virtually unheard of. Ov er 40 years on, it makes complete sense. I am a huge fan of Steve McQueen, dating back to his earliest roile as "Josh Randall" on the TV series, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (1958 to 1961). In this film, the fact that he teamed up with gorgeous and extremely talented actress, Bibi Andersson, was no accident. Ms. Andersson had been directed in 5 films by the legendary Ingmar Begman. This film was one of the few McQueen made between 1975 and his tragic death only 5 years later in 1980 at age 50. He died from complications from surgery to remove a huge tumor. However, the true cause of this was a rare form of cancer, which is caused by Mesothelioma, one of the deadliest forms (of cancer). This typically comes from expsuure to asbestos. This happened to McQueen while he was in the Marines (1947 to 1950). He was punished for going off base without leave (he was chasing some girl around). As punishment, he was ordered to clean out the lagging from inside the hull of some older ships; lagging which contained asbestos. Mesothelioma takes well over 20 years from initial exposure to become deadly. In his case, it took about 30 years, as he served from age 17 to 20. There is still no cure. Regardless, for me, Steve McQueen is the most iconic actor from the latter half of the 20th Century, and James Cagney is the most iconic actor of from the first half. This is a must see film; especially for Steve McQueen fans.
Review of An Enemy of the People
