Synopsis
Harvey Keitel is making a film about a relationship that disintegrates into terrible violence.His cast are James Russo and Madonna, and they have a pretty fraught relationship themselvesoff the set. Physical and mental brutality ooze from the film into real life, and Keitel descendsinto this hell, too.
Fresh off Bad Lieutenant, director Abel Ferrara, writer Nicholas St. John and Keitelplunge into the heart of darkness yet again. The shooting of the film has a… authentic,documentary feel, but at the same time this realism never disrupts the all-pervading darkness ofthe atmosphere. This is one of the grimmest movies about making movies.
Audio
Intensity of the acting aside (okay, buying Madonna as an intense dramatic actor is a bit ofstretch, but ANYWAY), the audio is actually fairly low key. There are some surround effects(such as background murmur in a restaurant scene), but the focus here is generally on thedialogue, which is clear and undistorted.
Video
Two formats here (fullscreen and 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen). The colours, flesh tonesand blacks are very good, and while there is some grain, it rather tends to add to the grittinessof the whole affair.
Special Features
Nothing but the theatrical trailer. The menus is basic.
Closing Thoughts
Gruelling, far from cheerful stuff, but Ferrara is an uncompromising filmmaker, and this is agood example, love him or hate him, of his work.
Special Features List
- Theatrical Trailer
