35th Anniversary!
In the pantheon of bad cop movies, Harvey Keitel's (Goodfellas) drug-addled, morally bankrupt NYPD detective stands at atop a pinnacle of 1990’s indie film glory. Grindhouse provocateur Abel Ferrara's (Ms. 45, The Driller Killer, King of New York) feral descent into cinematic hell, Bad Lieutenant, is a plunge into addiction, corruption, and spiritual damnation, featuring one of the most fearless performances of Keitel's career—one that inadvertently launched a series (including Takashi Miike’s forthcoming Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo).
Slapped with an NC-17 rating, the film pushes just about every boundary imaginable, from its graphic drug use and sexual depravity to an especially incendiary sequence set inside a church. It was banned in Ireland, and Ferrara's battles over the film's rating and an unauthorized Led Zeppelin sample by Schoolly D on the films soundtrack only added to its notorious reputation.
But, beneath all the grime and the blasphemy lies a surprisingly complex meditation on sin, forgiveness, and redemption. Co-written by Ferrara and Zoë Lund (star of Ferrara’s Ms .45), Bad Lieutenant is an uncompromising, frequently mesmerizing portrait of a man seemingly beyond saving.
Due to graphic content, no one under 17 will be admitted to this screening.
1992, 96 minutes, USA, In English and Spanish, Directed by Abel Ferrara, NC-17, Digital
“When Abel Ferrara calls something bad, better believe it: he means business.”
– Janet Maslin, THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Abel Ferrara's uncompromising Bad Lieutenant is a harrowing journey.”
– Lawrence Cohn, VARIETY
“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.”
– Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“It's a powerhouse performance in a film of jabbing intensity.”
– Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
