The work of a warped wizard.
Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Synopsis: Harvey Keitel stars as a nameless New York cop, hopelessy addicted to drugs, gambling, and sex, in this intense, hallucinatory portrait of sin and redemption by Abel Ferrara. The film follows the lieutenant as he makes his way to various crime scenes, concerned only with taking bets from his... Harvey Keitel stars as a nameless New York cop, hopelessy addicted to drugs, gambling, and sex, in this intense, hallucinatory portrait of sin and redemption by Abel Ferrara. The film follows the lieutenant as he makes his way to various crime scenes, concerned only with taking bets from his fellow cops on the outcome of the ongoing National League playoffs. As his bad decisions drive him deeper into debt, his life becomes a surreal hell, with a constant intake of crack, coke, heroin, and booze eroding what remains of his sanity. An investigation into the rape of a nun (Frankie Thorn) leads to his spiritual breakdown at the church crime scene, where he sees Jesus and the road to his salvation. This gutsy, highly original tale is one of Ferrara's most perfectly realized films and a pinnacle in the career of Keitel, whose performance transcends the screen in its sheer bravery. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Frankie Acciario, Brian McElroy, Peggy Formley, Stella Keitel
DVD Info
Release:
Mar 2, 2001
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case - Sensormatic
- Widescreen
Additional Release Material:
- Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Interactive Features:
- Interactive Menus
- Scene Access
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Production Notes
- Biographies - 1. Cast and Crew
Reviews
Keitel is onscreen for pretty much the entire movie and clearly relishes the opportunity of playing someone not so much teetering on the abyss as leaping off with a grand piano manacled to each ankle.
Quite possibly Ferrara's finest hour, with an almost unbearably sincere performance from Keitel.
Ferrara allows his star to dictate the pace, and is rewarded with a performance of extraordinary, terrifying honesty.
Bad Lieutenant is finally a pulp parable of sin, addiction, and redemption, a movie that, like its subversive hero, revels in the pleasure -- and danger -- of going too far.
Abel Ferrara's uncompromising Bad Lieutenant is a harrowing journey with a corrupt N.Y. cop sinking into the lower depths.
Though hardly a film for all sensibilities, Bad Lieutenant has the courage of its own convictions, and follows them to the bitter end.
There's an undeniable formal elegance in the way Ferrara, who coauthored the script with Zoe Lund, frames and holds certain shots, and Keitel certainly gives his all.
Scabrously powerful, the film dives into the addictive psyche, mixing Ferrara's fave elements: sex, drugs, and mayhem. Yet like his other films, it's a morality play about reclaimed sinners desperate for salvation in a world devoid of love and decency.
When Abel Ferrara calls something bad, better believe it: he means business.
News
posted by July 08, 2008
Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Vondie Curtis Hall, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker and Xzibit have...
posted by June 16, 2008
Eva Mendes is in talks to star opposite Nicolas Cage in Werner Herzog's remake/not-a-remake of Bad Lieutenant....
posted by June 05, 2008
Werner Herzog has heard that Abel Ferrara is upset about his planned Bad Lieutenant remake, but he isn't concerned -- in...
posted by Orlando Parfitt May 15, 2008
Nicolas Cage and Werner Herzog are teaming up for a re-make of Abel Ferrera's violent 1992 classic Bad Lieutenant, it...


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