Bad Lieutenant 1992

He has survived on the streets for twenty years. He's a gambler... a thief... a junkie ... a killer and a cop. Now he's investigating the most shocking case of his life, and as he moves closer to the truth, his self-destructive past is closing in. Harvey Keitel gives us a truly searing performance an an out of control police detective on a collision course with disaster.

First of all, Abel Ferrara is a hit or miss director. Either the viewer is turned on by what's on screen, or they're completely turned off. I have been a fan of Ferrara's for quiet some time now - Ever since seeing Driller Killer at age ten. The name Abel always struck a chord with me. Who knows? It could have been the biblical reference.

Bad Lieutenant is a film that one can't help but think comes from the inner depths of Abel Ferrara's soul. If one didn't know better, they would think the film as a whole is probably an analogy of his personal life... his inner demons.

While not a horror film (in general), this movie depicts the hidden horrors that seemingly good people keep locked away. It's a commentary of the mask wearers of society - Weak people in a body of someone having authority. When one thinks of an authoritative figure, we automatically think of a self willed leader - Someone who has it all together inside and out. We never see beneath the uniform or the tough persona, and take for granted that these people are always going to be our sociological pillars.

We very rarely see past the badges and the colors. We can look into these people's eyes and seemingly look past all the cries for help, until they're finally let out of the bag and we're left disappointed and out of hope. "How could THIS person do THAT?"

The Lieutenant (played wonderfully by Harvey Keitel) is a despicable person. He's a crack addict, a heroine fiend, an alcoholic and a sex freak. He steals batches of cocaine from crime scenes and sells it to the local drug pushers. He's a gambler. He owes tons of money to a bookie who's described to have killed families and babies, yet he still manages to bet against his cop buddies on the 1991 MLB playoffs.

Throughout the entire film, Ferrara gives us deeper glimpses into The Lieutenant's life of drugs, lust, and depravity. It's not long before we stop despising the cop and start feeling sorry for him. He's truly no different than a homeless junkie on the street. If not for the badge, that's exactly what the Lt. would have been.

Again, I'm going to jump back to some hidden personal views that's obviously been thrown in by Abel Ferrara in regards to his own life. First off, the drug depictions were right on the money. For someone to capture the gritty NY lifestyle accompanied by the dirty essence of sexual depravity, they would have had to experience at least some of it. "Yeah, yeah. A good director would do some studying."

I'm not saying Abel Ferrara is a drug addict alcoholic hooked on women and gambling, but I'm sticking with my story. There's an overlapping of Catholicism that adds an even more disturbing outlook when we have the raping of a nun in which the Lt. is assigned to the case.

The whole scenario allows the Lt's actions to be completely overshadowed, giving the viewer a little time to actually take the Lt.'s side when he questions the nun about how she could forgive her attackers for what they had done to her. She actually knows the name of her attackers but won't give their names to the police.

The religious angle seems to stick hard with Ferrara. Throughout a number of his films the Christianity angle has been exploited - either showing disdain and then redemption, or redemption then disdain. I think Bad Lieutenant reflects on a man's weaknesses and how an overhanging of the 'forgiveness' alignment can allow one to feel remorse through all the drugs and alcohol.

There's a scene depicting a hanging Jesus - being crucified as he screams in agony. We see him as a weak vessel, but in all actuality,(in Christianity) he's the Man in charge. It's kind of a reversal of The Lt.'s life. Here he is supposed to be the strong man in charge, yet he is so weak and despicable on the inside. We have the Jesus figure being pathetically weak on the outside, yet inhumanly strong willed on the inside. The two roads eventually meet when we realize that dying on the cross was Jesus' choice, just as the illogical sex games, drug use and gambling was the Lt.'s choice.

Throughout the film, The Lt. comments on the Catholic church calling it ''a racket''. Later on when the Lt. gets in too deep with the bookie, he enters the church in one of his drunken hazes. He calls out to Jesus and He appears. The Lt. crawls to his imagined Jesus figure. The figure stretches his arm almost mechanically the closer the Lt. crawls to him on the floor. He kisses the feet of the figure only to wake up and realize that it's the the feet of an old black woman.

In this epiphany he learns the identity of the two kids who raped the nun. In a sudden turn of forgiveness, he locates the two kids, smokes crack with them, gives them $30,000 and sends them away Scott free on a bus to an unknown destination stating their lives will ''never amount to shit in this town''- referring to NY.

It's a look at a sudden burst of redemption and self appointed righteousness. Throughout the entire film we never know the Lt's name. All he's addressed by is simply Lieutenant. He's stripped of an interpersonal identity, living life with what his outward appearance stands for - the badge, the suits. We also never learn the identity of the bookie the Lt. owes all the money to. He goes by the name Large which is also a symbolic gesture. LARGE, which is a metaphorical deity (in terms of the Lt. being at the mercy of him in regards to the large amount of money he owes him) seems to have the Lt's life in his hands. The Lt. hasn't paid up and who knows when he'll collect?

The Lieutenant's family seem to have no identity either. This is metaphorical in that the Lt. doesn't actually know his family. He has been involved with his cop lifestyle and moonlighting as a sex fiend and junkie for so long that he does the same as a typical drug user and gambling alcoholic. His mother lives with him (his ex-wife living in another home) but never speaks throughout the entire film. This is also a representation on the upbringing the Lieutenant had growing up as a child.

The ball game that we see throughout the entire running time is also somewhat of a miracle in itself - The Mets coming back after being THREE games down against the Dodgers is representative of a mini miracle. It's also metaphorical in that it's NY against NY. It's almost a simile on how NY is a city that is at odds with itself - everyone trying to beat each other - their own neighbors and friends. This could represent the eventual lack of faith not only with the games, but the Jesus in general.

What happens next one can pretty much estimate. This is certainly a film that can't be enjoyed by the subject matter. It's not a film that's pink a fluffy and round around the edges. I think one would have to have had some external form of experience with religion and addiction - whether sexual or alcohol and drugs, it would be hard to relate to this without experiencing one or the other. Rarely, a film will make me shudder at the thought of it or absolutely set me on the same shelf with it. Bad Lieutenant does the latter. (No, I'm not a raging alcoholic or heroine junky or sex freak. It's the religion thing)

A very depressing film with tons of metaphoric actions and camera-work. Abel Ferrara pulls the art house curtains, but opens them enough to let us peek through without them getting in the way. Not since Fulci's New York Ripper has the dirt of New York rubbed off on me and managed to stay for so long. Harvey Keitel's best performance as well as Ferrara's best. Not one to miss if you're a fan of emotional cinema. Masterpiece cinema.