The Bad Lieutenant

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IUDICA_ME

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The Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel and directed by Abel Ferrara is the most powerful movie that I have ever seen. I am often moved by just recalling in my memory the main characters moment of redemption. This is a tough flick - depicting rape and desecration and drug use - all of it depicted in an explicit and raw manner. Yet no other movie has affected me so. The movie is thick with the themes of the Catholic faith.

Has anyone else been similarly moved ?

m
 
Yes, it is truly a statement of faith by the screenwriter. In witness of the Lieutenant’s total ongoing depravity including (seemingly) his final act to release the heinous, wanted criminals, only a believer would understand his affirmation and (possible) redemption at that point. (In the face of his own death, he had realized and taken to heart that the victimized nun herself had foregiven them.)

Thomas
 
Yes that was my reaction the first time I saw it. Being from NYC myself, it is a realistic portrayal of the culture there, and lifestyles of many. It is unnecessarily graphic, yes, not recommended for young people. However, the main character does repent.
 
There was a scene with full frontal nudity involving a nun who had been raped. I hope the scene wasn’t supposed to be titillating.
 
Maxirad said:
There was a scene with full frontal nudity involving a nun who had been raped. I hope the scene wasn’t supposed to be titillating.
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Have you seen it, or just read about it? Of course, it is hard to stomach the realism, especially if you are not from the NYC area. The Christians who would understand the ultimate message, would have already turned it off! Others however, get a surprise dose of Christian teaching.

The scene you mention is central to the escalating self-destruction of the Lieutenant. The Lieutenant’s spying of the nun through the door of the police exam room, and his own titillation, apparently causes him to experience great shame. (BTW, the nudity in the scene was not “full frontal”.)

It is a challenge to understand the possible redemption of the Lieutenant at the conclusion. It took me years… How could the releasing of two brutal rapists, albeit as the nun had wished it, possibly be redemptive? It seems only the culmination of his depravity… Here is a link to one reviewer, who also has recognized the value of this final message: letterboxd.com/widerscreenings/film/bad-lieutenant/
 
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