Affliction

A film by Paul Schrader (USA, 1997),

with Nick Nolte, James Coburn, Willem Dafoe, Sissy Spacek, Mary Beth Hurt, Jim True.

In the small town of Lawford, New Hampshire, Wade can hardly do better than regulate traffic or keep the roads free of snow. Yet, he's a cop. A pathetic cop with a wounded soul. As a hunt accident occurs, Wade's instinct leads him into further investigations that, he thinks, are going to enable him to show he's better than that...

Paul Schrader (Light Sleeper, Hardcore, screenwriter of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) directs, from his own screenplay, the transporting tale of a man’s attempt to redeem his abused soul. It is adapted from the acclaimed novel by Russell Banks (The Sweet Hereafter). Like in his former productions, Schrader abides by his hyper-realistic and gloomy vision of life through the story of another Mister Noone. Nick Nolte's acting is absolutely outstanding to that effect as it's virtually impossible not to sympathize right away with his character no matter all the obvious defects. It is both Banks' and Schrader's specialties indeed to debunk the clear distinction between goodness and evil and make it clear, on the contrary, there might be some good in evil and some evil in goodness. As a matter of fact, Wade is neither good nor bad, he's just a character in the same way that Thomas Hardy pictures it along with German poet Novalis: "Fate and character are the same conception" (das Schicksal und Gemuet Namen eines Begriffes sind). In Wade's case, it is difficult to tell whether his fate -having a brutal merciless father- actually determined his character or whether his character determined his fate. The story is therefore really strong and impressive. Technically speaking, the cast is truly brilliant while Schrader's slow-paced and motionless direction makes the film all the more depressing and tough. Painfully tough.

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