If there was ever a movie I really had no intention of ever watching this would be it. I remember the Academy Awards of the year and the fact that this movie was a winner, but nothing about it has ever made me want to invest my time in the movie, when it has been on television in the past I have changed the channel without a thought...
Stupid, Stupid Me, living and learning as I journey down the road of Oscar movies.
Affliction is a powerful but troubling adaptation of the novel by Russell Banks, telling the story of small town cop Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) as narrated by his brother Rolfe (Willem Dafoe). Wade is a small town cop with small town troubles and mammoth baggage, struggling with people in his personal life including his ex-wife and daughter, and a dominating father, Wade becomes obsessed with investigating a fatal hunting accident involving his best friend. As his personal life and professional obsession collide Wade begins to psychologically disintegrate and a series of tragic events unfold.
This movie is an excellent drama mystery, with a fine cast who deliver successfully to the heavy subject matter that is the heart of the script. I found myself engrossed as the events unfold, and this greatly surprised me because as I said before, this was never a movie I ever wanted to watch. It's an interesting head space I am in as I document the film selections for this blog, a slight amount of slef analysis going on as I consider whether I am appreciating it only because I am watching it as blog prescription or would I enjoy it if I wasn't. I might not have got passed the initial start if it weren't for this blog, and so, yet again, thank you blog.
Nick Nolte, where is he these days, a huge star in his own right, and particularly excellent in this movie, so good I might go as far as to say that this is the best performance I have ever seen of his. Nick Nolte is known for playing strong characters, in this movie he is almost the opposite thereof, not weak I would say, but perhaps weathered (and this word is actually perfect as it is set in the bleakness of cold and snow). The man has a lot of troubles, least of which is his current obsession and the cracks are starting to show, Nick brings this tragic figure to life in a well-deserved Oscar Nominated performance.
James Coburn went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the horrible, bitter, persistently drunk Whitehouse father, a particularly loathsome character and a role that was consistently turned down because of its burden, the task of playing such a dark and awful character was deemed a heavy challenge. James Coburn would come out of retirement to deliver the performance of a lifetime, brilliantly portraying a foreboding shadow of a man, forever casting shade upon his son, as played by Nick Nolte.This role epitomises why it is that I have place the Supporting cast Awards on my must watch list (as opposed to script, which very shortly I am bound to include), sometimes the roles in the supporting categories are so good that to ignore them would be a crime, this one particularly so vital as a supporting element and catalyst to so many aspects of the story: before the story, during the story and after the story. This as opposed to the slightest, almost inconsequential of performances by Willem Dafoe, and the slightest of performances by Sissy Spacek (as her role was intended I guess, just not a loud character although an important one).
To close let me just state that I rarely do this, not for any particular reason, but I have looked up the definition of the word Affliction, and the movies is a perfect representation of its title meaning:
Affliction
1. A cause of pain or harm:
'a crippling affliction of the nervous system'
2. [Mass Noun] The state of being in pain:
'poor people in great affliction'
Synonyms: suffering, distress, pain, trouble, misery, wretchedness, hardship, misfortune,
adversity, sorrow, torment, tribulation, woe, cross to bear, thorn in one's flesh/side;
bane, trial, calamity, ordeal; (afflictions) ills
3. Astrology An instance of one celestial body afflicting another.
Not for light viewing, but definitely recommended.
Affliction is the 3rd movie watched from the selection of the 71st Academy Awards, and is the 46th Academy Award nominated movie watched since blog commencement.
nuff said...
No comments:
Post a Comment