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| BAD
LIEUTENANT
Keitel
commented about the role, "I wanted to play this part because I
have a deep desire to know God. Knowing God isn't just a matter
of going to confession and praying. We also know God by confronting
evil, and this character gave me the opportunity to descend into
the most painful part of myself and learn about the dark places." |
BAD
LIEUTENANT
(1992)
This page was created on June 21, 2001
This page was last updated on May 22, 2005 |
|
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Writing
credits Abel Ferrara Zoë Lund
Harvey
Keitel .... The Lieutenant
Brian McElroy .... Lieutenant's Son (#1)
Frankie Acciarito .... Lieutenant's Son (#2)
Peggy Gormley .... Lieutenant's Wife
Stella Keitel .... Lieutenant's Daughter
Dana
Dee .... Lieutenant's Baby Girl
Victor
Argo .... Bet Cop
Paul Calderon .... Cop One
Leonard L. Thomas .... Cop Two
Anthony Ruggiero .... Lite
Vincent Laresca .... JC
Robin Burrows .... Ariane
Victoria Bastel .... Bowtay
G. Elvis Phillips .... Young Cop
Stephen Chen .... Korean Store Owner
Shawn McClean .... Korean Store Hood #1
John Steven Jones .... Korean Store Hood #2
Fernando Véléz .... Julio Joseph
Micheal Cruz .... Paulo
Frankie Thorn .... Nun
Frank Adonis .... Large
Paul
Hipp .... Jesus
Lambert
Moss .... Veronica
Nicholas De Cegli .... Limelight Guide
Larry Mullane .... Detective Larry
Michael A. Fella .... Detective Mike
Michael N. Ciravolo .... Detective Michael
Zoë Lund .... Zoe
Bo Dietl .... Detective Bo
Gene Canfield .... Detective Gene
Heather Bracken .... Nurse
Penelope Allen .... Doctor
Eddie Daniels .... Jersey Girl - Driver
Bianca Bakija .... Jersey Girl - Passenger
Ed Kovens .... Monsignor
Jaime Sánchez .... Priest
Minnie Gentry .... Elderly Woman
Iraida Polanco .... Mamacita
Directed
by Abel Ferrara
Writing credits Abel Ferrara and Zoe Lund
Produced by Mary Kane (producer), Diana Phillips (line producer),
Edward R. Pressman (producer), Randy Sabusawa (co-producer), Patrick
Wachsberger (executive producer) and Ronna B. Wallace (executive
producer)
Original music by Joe Delia
Cinematography by Ken Kelsch
Film Editing by Anthony Redman
Rated
NC-17 |
Windows Media Player
28.8
- Modem
56K
- ISDN
100K
- Cable |
Buy it at AllPosters.com |
| Gambler
Thief Junkie Killer Cop |
| STUDIO
SYNOPSIS:
Theatrical release: November 2, 1992.
Shot
on location in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York, and Jersey City,
New Jersey. The film was photographed in a mere 20 days.
The
film is based on a song written by director Abel Ferrara called
"The Bad Lieutenant" that, in turn, is based on an incident in which
a nun was raped in Spanish Harlem in 1982. Bo Dietl, the policeman
who caught the real-life rapists, plays a bearded cop in the movie.
The
screenplay was cowritten by Zoë Tamerlis (under the alias Zoë Lund).
Tamerlis also plays the lieutenant's drug-shooting mistress and
debuted as an actress in Ferrara's 1981 rape-revenge cult hit, MS.
45.
The
part of the lieutenant's daughter is played by Harvey Keitel's real
daughter, Stella Keitel.
Keitel
has a full-frontal nude scene in this film. In 1993 he appeared
in Jane Campion's THE PIANO, in which he also had a full-frontal
nude scene. This was a highly succesful period of Keitel's career,
thanks to these two critically praised films and RESERVOIR DOGS.
Around this time the press began to pay homage to his fearlessly
"naked" style of acting.
Keitel
commented about the role, "I wanted to play
this part because I have a deep desire to know God. Knowing God
isn't just a matter of going to confession and praying. We also
know God by confronting evil, and this character gave me the opportunity
to descend into the most painful part of myself and learn about
the dark places."
Director
Abel Ferrara says of his star: "Harvey Keitel is a national treasure.
His performance is just awesome." Rap star Schoolly D's "Signifying
Rapper" originally appeared on the soundtrack in the film but was
later removed for video releases after legal disputes resulting
from Schoolly's unauthorized use of a Led Zeppelin sample in the
song.
There
are R and unrated versions of this film available, with the unrated
version being substantially more powerful and disturbing. |
 Review
by
SIMON REMARK
simon_remark@hotmail.com
Film Reviewer
Simon
graduated from Trinity Western University where he studied film
under prolific screenwriter Ned Vankevich. He prefers independent
and lower-budget films.
|
 One
of the most spiritually powerful films I've ever seen is The Bad Lieutenant.
It is also one of the most disturbing. This may seem like a paradox
to some Christians: a film that is equally powerful and disturbing-most
people, Christians and non-Christians alike, separate the two: a film
is usually either powerful or disturbing. Rarely do these attributes
coexist. |
 Harvey
Keitel's character in The Bad Lieutenant may be one of the most grotesque
characters ever seen on screen-he's a compulsive gambler, drug addict,
absent father and husband, and he's a dirty cop too. So dirty that
in one unsettling scene he pulls over two young girls on a traffic
violation-they are out in daddy's car and will do anything to avoid
being caught-and verbally rapes them. But it is clear that he lives
a tortured life, uncomfortable even with himself; he is desperate
for salvation but doesn't believe someone as immoral as him can ever
receive grace. |
|  But
when a nun is raped and forgives her rapists-she knows the two young
men but won't give up their names because she has forgiven them- Harvey
Keitel's character realizes that perhaps there is hope of salvation
for someone like himself-if the nun is capable of forgiving her
rapists, surely God can forgive someone like him. During the film's
climax he has a vision of Christ at the altar of the nun's church.
He sobs and begs for forgiveness: "I tried to do the right thing,
but I'm so f*cking weak!" He then crawls over to Jesus and kisses
his feet.
Roger
Ebert has this to say about The Bad Lieutenant: "The film has the
NC-17 rating, for adults only, and that is appropriate. But it is
not a 'dirty movie,' and in fact takes spirituality and morality
more seriously than most films do." |
| VISUAL
REVIEW
BY DAVID BRUCE |
 DISCONNECTED
The Lieutenant is a father and has a family. But, he is distant even
when he takes his sons to Catholic school. |
 DRUG
ABUSER
The minute he has dropped off the boys, he snorts coke in his
car. Notice the cross hanging from the rear view mirror. The film
continually contrasts the profane to the sacred. |
ALCOHOLIC
Drinking and driving while on the job. He has accumulated a massive
debt betting on baseball. The Lieutenant's world is falling apart.
He is has become a very grotesque and evil person. |
 SORTED
LIFE
The Lieutenant does copious amounts of drugs, cavorts with prostitutes,
and uses his status to take advantage of teenage girls. The Lieutenant
is ruining his body -his personal temple. |
 RUINED
TEMPLE
Then something happens. A church is desecrated by some very evil young
men. There is a parallel here to the way the Lieutenant has ravaged
his own body. |
|  DEHUMANIZING
OTHERS
The young thugs rape a nun. This is parallel to the way The Lieutenant
takes advantage of young women he pulls over for citations.
|
 JESUS
INTERSECTS HUMAN SIN
The screams of the nun are contrasted to the screams of Jesus on the
cross. The film connects the painful death of Jesus to the suffering
of the nun. A fabulous contrast, in my view. |
TWO
RUINED TEMPLES ON THE FLOOR
The Lieutenant is called to investigate the crime. Somehow he identifies
with the devastation in the church. He throws himself into the midst
of the chaotic mess next to the defiled Virgin Mary statue. |
 RESTORATION
BEGINS WITH FORGIVENESS
The Lieutenant cannot understand how the nun could possibly forgive
her attackers. Similarly, The Lieutenant cannot understand how God
could forgive him. |
 JESUS
TAKES SIN AWAY
The nun responds by saying, "Talk to Jesus. Pray. You believe
in God don't you? Jesus Christ died for your sins." |
| |
 REALIZATION
Left on his own in the church, the Lieutenant realizes that if the
nun can forgive the young men who ravaged her, then God must be able
to forgive him too. |
 THE
PRESENCE OF GOD
The Lieutenant cries out to God in confession of sin, pleading for
God's help. Suddenly Jesus appears. |
 THE
CRY FOR SALVATION
The Lieutenant stretches out his arms toward Jesus to receive forgiveness. |
| CONFESSION
AND ACCEPTANCE
The Lieutenant now crawls toward Jesus on his knees in an act of
full confession and acceptance. |
 THE
HOLY KISS
The Lieutenant kisses the nail pierced feet of Jesus. |
| |
| . |
| Editorial
Commentary
by Simon S. Remark |
| Many
Christians believe films of this nature are inherently evil. Many
Christians base their opinions of a film's morality on the number
of curse words or sex scenes, thus ruling out numerous films with
compelling Christian messages. For instance, many Christians were
appalled with Kevin Smith's Dogma,
calling it blasphemous and sacrilegious, yet the film shows God as
an entity very concerned with creation, among other things. In his
review of Dogma, David Bruce mentions,
"Oh, by the way, Kevin Smith is right. God does care about humans.
And God is very involved in the human condition. God is ever ready
to love and care for you." |
| Kevin
Smith's Chasing Amy also has an important Christian message.
The film explores the complexities, and intricacies of a relationship
between a straight male and a lesbian female who become intimate.
And while many Christians might view the content and dialogue of the
film as offensive, Chasing Amy has an intrinsically Christian
theme: "it's not who you love, it's how you love." Holden, the film's
protagonist, pushes his girlfriend, Alyssa, away because of her promiscuous
past. But he learns, after a profound monologue from Silent Bob (director
Kevin Smith), the importance of grace and forgiveness-accepting people
for who they are, no matter what they've done in the past, and loving
them unconditionally. |
| Another
film that wonderfully captures this theme is Leaving Las Vegas.
In this film, Nicholas Cage's character loses his wife and job and
sets out to drink himself to death-he's not sure if he drinks because
his wife left him, or his wife left him because he drinks. In Las
Vegas he falls in love with a prostitute: she accepts him for who
he is, he accepts her for who she is. They love each other unconditionally.
Roger Ebert comments, "Oh, this movie is so sad! It is sad not because
of the tragic lives of its characters, but because of their goodness
and their charity. What moves me the most in movies is not when something
bad happens, but when characters act unselfishly." |
| Even
Pulp Fiction has spiritual implications. Jules, a scripture
spouting hit-man, played by Samuel L. Jackson, decides to live a Godly
life after what he believes is a miracle-he's shot at numerous times,
but all the bullets just barely miss him. At the end of a hectic,
bizarre day he walks away from his former life and becomes a new man-great
character arc! |
| Here's
an example, be it extreme, of the type of attitude that many Christians
have toward certain films that, in my opinion, is antithetical to
Christianity. Last year P. T. Anderson released a spiritually rich
film, Magnolia-a film dealing with
grace, forgiveness and reconciliation. The characters in Magnolia
show the human condition in its truest form: broken. Yet this is what
one Christian had to say: "'vile'... 'Magnolia' was without a doubt,
the most vile, horrific and offensive movie I have ever seen! I cannot
comprehend how anyone could possibly have one good thing to say about
this movie. This is just the type of vulgarity our heavenly Father
wants us to have no part of. I don't care how much Hollywood or others
try to talk around it by talking about the acting, or the filmmaking.
Trash is trash. Jesus does not need or want to use filth to show us
how to forgive. He is love and speaks with love and kindness not vileness
and vulgarity. "Magnolia" is the worst movie I have ever had the misfortune
to see." |
| Are
these films the type of vulgarity God wants us to have no part of?
Well, a better question might be: are the characters in these films
the type of people God wants us to have a part of? Yes, I believe
so. Do I think that all the films I used as examples are appropriate
for everyone? No I don't. But, at the same time, I don't believe Christians
should claim that such films are inappropriate for ALL Christians;
these films are not evil. They provide insight into the human condition.
All of the aforementioned films and characters point to a merciful
God: Harvey Keitel's character in The Bad Lieutenant is grotesque,
yet Christ has mercy on him; the drunk and the prostitute in Leaving
Las Vegas are coarse, yet they are wonderful examples of God's
unconditional love and acceptance; the characters in Magnolia
are flawed, but we realize in the end that God is at work in all of
their lives. The list goes on and on. Perhaps more Christians should
look at what films have to say about the nature of humans and our
culture, instead of quickly condemning them because they are full
of cursing, or sex. Because it is often the harshest films that have
the most powerful Christian messages. |
|
A
SENSE OF REDEMPTION
Subject: Bad_Lieutenant
Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001
From: Dave
Hi
Friends, I find comments by Simon S. Remark in http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/bad_lieutenant.htm
to be intereting. However, I do not agree completely with his perspective
on the movies that he listed.
I
did not like DOGMA at all because of the complete misconception
of Kevin Smith's notion about Christianity. It has hints of Catholicism
(i.e. Linda Fiorentino's baptizing the water to make it holy.) It
fails because it did not demonstrate a true knowledge of Christianity.
For example, Angels cannot be killed by bullets, or have their wings
cliped. They can never become human - that's why they are angels.
The whole bit about Alan Rickman's character trying to save Jesus
from the cross is beyond comprehension. It's as if Smith is saying
Christ never needed to be crucified. And even if "Kevin Smith is
right. God does care about humans. And God is very involved in the
human condition. God is ever ready to love and care for you," it's
not strong enough to support the movie. God is not Alanis Morrisett
wearing shorts and doing hand stands.
There
has to be a reverence for God. It is lacking in Dogma. God is not
a fool. I felt that he is portrayed as one in this movie.
As
for CHASING AMY, as Simon Remark said, "accepting people for who
they are, no matter what they've done in the past, and loving them
unconditionally," I would wholeheartedly agree with this statement.
But, let me ask a question, would God accept Amy as the way she
is, a lesbian? Even if she is straight, would God accept her promiscuity?
There is a fine line between what we accept and what God accepts.
God does not and never will accept homosexuality. He never has and
he never will. He did not create mankind to be homosexuals, bi-sexuals,
or overtly sexual. It's true that we are sexual beings, but only
within the confines of marriage. Yes, we may accept the fact that
Amy (or anybody we know) is a homosexual. But, we have a duty to
try to change her orientation. This does not mean that we don't
love her unconditionally. We should love Amy as God would have love
her. But, to not tell her the truth according to the Bible is not
love. Telling her the truth and what God expects, a monogamous heterosexual
relationship, IS love.
As
for LEAVING LAS VEGAS, there's got to be more than "she accepts
him for who he is, he accepts her for who she is. They love each
other unconditionally." Acceptance of an individual's self destruction
is destruction in itself. What would you say if your daughter or
mother becomes a prostitute and your father or brother tells you
that he wants to drink himself to death. Would you say, "well, good
for you! You just be your own self and get herpes and AIDS and go
ahead and drink yourself to death!" It would be absurd for any individual
to truly be so inhumane and watch the other individual destroy themselves.
This is not love. Love is to tell the other individual that we care
enough about them to want to help them. If they refuse, then we
stay back and let them come to their natural course. But, we should
never accept it.
As
for MAGNOLIA, I would agree that there are a lot of points that
the filmaker, Paul Thomas Anderson, was trying to make. The most
important point that I see is that every character in this movie
is trying to come to grips with him or herself about their situation.
They all seem to want to do the right thing, to be good and to be
truly accepted and be loved. Even though they are all intrinsically
flawed, they were all seeking redemption. It was as if they had
to do something before they can go on with their lives. I like that
theme. It is, I believe, very Christian.
I
have not seen BAD LIEUTANENT yet. But, from what I have read, I
believe that it may be one of the best movie for a Christian. Seeing
sin at its "finest" may be hard. But, we have to always ask ourselves
one question: are we better than the bad lieutenant? Not according
to Christ we are not. I am planning to see it. I will let you know
what I think about it. Thanks for reading.
God Bless, Dave |
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