|
Starring Nick Nolte, James Coburn, Sissy Spacek, Willem Dafoe, Mary Beth Hurt, Holmes Osborne,
Brigid Tierney, Sean McCann. Written and Directed by Paul Schrader. From the book by Russell Banks.
Wade Whitehouse (Nolte) has just picked up his daughter Jill (Tierney) in full Halloween costume, but its too late to go trick or treating. He's trying hard to love his daughter, despite his divorce from her mother (Hurt), but she just wants to go home to mom. Wade's a bit of loser. He works as a part-time policeman and snow-plough operator under the New Hampshire town's main businessman Gordon Larriviere (Osborne), barely ekeing out a living. He drinks too much, smokes a little pot and is generally pissed off with his life. But he has a decent and loyal girlfriend Margie (Spacek) who loves him despite himself. A Boston union boss (McCann) is shot while hunting dear. It's ruled an accident by the authorities, but Wade thinks his boss and the union boss's son had something to do with it. As well, Wade decides to seek custody of Jill, and casually asks Margie to marry him, ostensibly to bolster his case. One can tell Margie knows it, but she promises to think about it. Then Wade's mom dies, and Wade and Margie move in with Wade's violent drunken father (Coburn). This definitely doesn't improve Wade's life, and things go downhill from there. Based on the book by Russell Banks, who also wrote The Sweet Hereafter, Affliction is a searing character study about male violence, and how difficult it is for young men to avoid repeating the violent mistakes of their fathers, even when they want to avoid them. Wade lived under his usually drunk dad's iron rule, who constantly admonished his sons for not being man enough. We see a flashback where a young Wade tries to protect his mother from his father's tirade, but is punched out for his gallantry. While Wade hates his father and tells him to his face he wishes him dead, his lackey job, his failed marriage and broken relationship with Jill eventually help to unleash the violent anger inside he can no longer control. Nolte is exceptional as the down-on-his-luck father who notices his life is falling apart around him. He captures the desperation of a man who wants to maintain his links with his daughter, but has no way of winning her over so that she actually wants to be with him. He perfectly displays a man who bottling up his anger and repressing the violent lessons his father taught him, but when the heat is on he cannot contain it anymore. Coburn is perfect as the angry, mean, cold-hearted bastard who unleashes his hate on his family when they don't meet his old-school standard of masculinity and their knowing their place. While Nolte's performance dominates the film, one of the most interesting performances in the film is Spacek's. Rarely has there been a better illustration of a woman who loves a violent man and can't help herself, even when she knows better. Spacek's boss pleads with her to get out of the relationship when Pop moves into the picture, but she can't. She loves him. She sees the good in him, and hopes the violent genie can be contained and not let out of the bottle. The cinematography, by the same man from The Sweet Hereafter, beautifully illustrates the bleak winter and creates a sense of foreboding and isolation. Affliction is an exceptionally performed illustration that violence is a learned behaviour, and how difficult it is to break the cycle. 
|