I don't understand the relationship between Rodriguez, Mr. Peters, and Sol.
Rodriguez says that Sol makes the brunt of his money from him, which I am not disputing, but how?
What does Sol Do?
Did he get the 5G's as payment for selling the shop? Fencing Jewelry?
I believe the whole arrangement was to launder dirty money. Although they did not go into details of all the paperwork, it was just to show the shady part of the business he got involved with. He even become a perpetrator of societies ills, by taking advantage of others through this criminal activity. It was a subtle comparison to the Nazi collaborators, who used the line that 'they didn't really know what was going on over there'. By pleading ignorance and not willing to ask questions, evil can persist in many forms within a community. By having soldiers who are 'just following orders', and civilians willing to look the other way, because 'it doesn't affect my life personally', the human experiment will continue to deteriorate.
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The signing was to make the illegal stuff "seem legal". Nazerman was receiving kickback money that already belonged to Rodriguez "all above board", but by signing the papers for the "new paint job", he gave Rodriguez some BS tax deductions. You gotta remember, even when Nazerman was paying out a dollar or two to all his beautiful, pathetic customers, that he could never make any money from it. The fact they use a paint job as a metaphor is cool, although it was really a "whitewash".
By the way, this is a tremendous film. Totally original and unlike any other film I can think of. Rod Steiger is beyond awesome.
THANKS. MAKES SENSE TO ME NOW.
shareNazerman must have been making pretty good money. Apparantly he paid for his sister-in-laws house and she was asking him for money for a European trip. Also, in the scene in Rodriquez' apartment, he told him he knew about the house and that Sol would keep taking money whether he liked it or not.
It takes a big man to cry. It takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.
Nazerman must have been making pretty good money.
The film clearly explains that Rodriguez owns the Pawnshop. He hires Sol to operate it for him as a chronically failing business for tax purposes. They do not explain all of the reasons Rodriguez has for parting with $5,000 dollars, but in context one can assume it is part of some crooked idea. The $5,000 was for the ACME Contracting Company to paint the inside of the Pawnshop.
shareThe $5,000 was for the ACME Contracting Company
I love how generic companies in US B&W movies are usually called "Acme". Similar to how generic products or components are called "widgets".
Rodriguez was laundering dirty cash through the pawnbroker who takes a cut and write a check back to him so he can make the money legit.
shareWas Rodriguez based on / inspired by / meant to Bumpy Johnson and or Nicky Barnes?
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