Other than a guy I met in Manhattan I have never been so intimidated by a man in a sailor hat.
The film is open/close narrated by Juliette Lewis which would suggest that this is her story to tell but let me take the reigns for a moment.
The film tells a great story and a great story needs great actors and for that we get Robert De Niro, The bedroom scene with Lori is a brutal display of what he is capable of, The tattoos didn't put her off nor did the handcuffs but the furious punches De Niro delivers also biting a chunk out her cheek (Which De Niro suggested to do after researching sexual attacks) proves to be a truly devastating scene. Another scene that solidifies De Niro as a psychopath is the one with Juliette Lewis in the theatre where it builds and builds to the point where you want to run away and never see his face again, he plays a maniac so convincingly its hard to believe that at the end of the scene he could just turn it off.
The relationship between Jessica Lange and Nick Nolte is unbelievable and strained at moments but with performances from Juliette Lewis and Robert De Niro stealing the show it doesn’t let the film down.
This is the first Martin Scorsese film where he uses optical FX and you can tell with excessive use of solarisation and filters, he turns the sky into what looks like fire during one scene while magnifying the stars in the next.
The cameos from Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck are nice and ending the film with a visual metaphor Nick Nolte washing the blood off his hands was a good touch.
Great opening line :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice entry. Interesting point about De Niro's research. Makes you wonder if he could have added "Yeah, and I read that the victim would often slip a finger up the attacker's bum... so I've read..."
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