Bad Lieutenant is hard; hard to the core. It is gritty, seedy and subversive. Untainted by cinematic stylization, the gut wrenching subject matter is intensely genuine.
The indisputable highlight of the film is Harvey Keitel’s astounding no bars hold performance as the “Bad Lieutenant.” An amoralistic degenerate, one finds it hard pressed whether to hate him or feel immense pity and sorrow. Not just for his character but for the archetype he represents in society
No more than ten minutes into the film, Johnny Ace’s elegant “Pledging my Love” plays over an erotic scene that lacks any palpable love. It is clear the “Bad Lieutenant” is a lost man. This scene is one of the most tragic and beautifully choreographed asexual/sexual scenes in cinema, setting precedence for the plethora of paradoxes of the Bad Lieutenant.
Another element intricately explored that boosts Bad Lieutenant beyond a simple character study is the element of redemption. Although the film hones in on the Catholic concept of redemption on a literal level, it is a universal abstraction on a spiritual level. The violated nun appropriately uses the metaphor of turning “bitter semen into fertile sperm” to describe the paradoxical nature of atonement.
Keitel’s character in tandem with his excruciatingly raw performance piques at the end when he has a memorable meltdown in front of an unflinching image of Jesus Christ. This Christ turns out to be a hallucination which helps him pave the path toward personal redemption. This turns out to be his most significant deed in the narrative. Is it enough to truly save him?
Justice is ultimately served on all ends. The film concludes appropriately on a grim note. Director Abel Ferrara outdid himself as did all other cast and crew in this seminal landmark of underground cinema. Some are bound to be turned away by its graphic NC-17 content, but for the open minded Lieutenant is an intricate character study that explores themes of universal human truth.
Overall: 9.7/10
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