Affliction (film)

Infobox Film | name = Affliction


caption = original film poster
director = Paul Schrader
producer = Linda Reisman
writer = Russell Banks (novel)
Paul Schrader (screenplay)
starring =Nick Nolte
Sissy Spacek
James Coburn
Willem Dafoe
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = December 30, 1998 (U.S. release)
runtime = 114 min
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0118564

"Affliction" is a 1998 film written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks. It stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, Willem Dafoe, Mary Beth Hurt and Jim True.

It tells the story of Wade Whitehouse (Nolte), a small-town policeman in New Hampshire, whose investigation of an apparent hunting accident is influenced by his relationship with a violent, alcoholic father (Coburn), his increasing obsession with his past, his fraught relationship with his ex-wife (Mary Beth Hurt) and daughter (Brigid Tierney), and the death of his mother. All of these issues precipitate a personal crisis for Wade as the investigation proceeds.

James Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Nick Nolte was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best actor.

Plot

The film is narrated by Wade's brother Rolfe (Willem Dafoe), who reveals early on that Wade (Nick Nolte) disappeared from town after the events related in the story, and was never found. Rolfe's periodic narration is in the present, so the movie is effectively a flashback from the perspective of Rolfe's narration. As the film begins, it is a snowy Halloween night. Wade is driving his daughter, Jill, to a Halloween party he has helped organize, but it is clear she would rather be trick-or-treating. At the party her disaffection and moodiness continues. She tells Wade she wants to go home. Jill eventually calls her mother to come and pick her up. When his ex-wife (Mary Beth Hurt) finally arrives, Wade shoves her lover against their car and watches them drive away with Jill. Wade vows to get a divorce lawyer to help gain custody of his daughter.

The next morning, Wade rushes to the scene of a crime. A trained hunter named Jack (Jim True) comes back from the woods claiming that the man he was hunting with accidentally shot and killed himself. The police believe Jack, but Wade, after noticing bloodstains on Jack's shoulder, slowly grows suspicious, believing that the man's death was no accident.

One day, Wade and his girlfriend Maggie Fogg (Sissy Spacek) arrive at the house of Wade's abusive father, Glen Whitehouse (James Coburn), whose brutal treatment of Wade and Rolfe as children is seen through homevideo-style flashbacks throughout the film. Wade goes upstairs and finds his mother lying dead in bed of hypothermia. Glen Whitehouse reacts to her death with little surprise, and at the funeral, while everyone else displays grief, he gets drunk and loudly complains, "Not one of you is worth one hair on that woman's head!" Wade furiously holds his father up against the wall for everyone to see.

Rolfe, who has come home for the funeral, has a long talk with Wade about the hunting accident, and suggests that Wade's murder theory is correct. Wade becomes so convinced by Rolfe's advice that he becomes dillusioned by the concept of becoming a town hero. At one point in the film he begins to follow Jack in a car chase, convinced that Jack is running away from something and is involved in a conspiracy ring with the other police officers. A curiously nervous Jack finally pulls over, threatens Wade with a rifle, shoots out his tires, and drives off. Wade is so dumbfounded that he doesn't tell anyone.

Later in the film, Wade is confronted with a multitude of crises. He is fired from both of his jobs at the police station for his constant harassment of Jack. He has a painful toothache, and is forced to pull out the tooth with a pair of pliers (there is a brief shot of him crying from the pain). He collects Jill from his ex-wife's house, takes her to the local restaurant, and attacks the bartender in front of his daughter after he insults Wade. Then Wade takes Jill home to find Maggie leaving him. Wade grabs Maggie roughly and begs her to stay with him, but Jill rushes up and tries to push Wade away. In response, Wade hits Jill, causing her nose to bleed, and she and Maggie leave together in front of him.

Wade is then approached by his father Glen, who congratulates him for finally showing his angry side, but is more concerned that the farmhouse is almost out of drink. Wade, however, refuses to let his father drive to town. An enraged Glen follows Wade into the barn, sneaks up behind him, and hits him on the head with a bottle of Canadian Club whisky. Wade then jumps up from the ground and knocks Glen unconscious with a rifle. When Wade actually realizes that Glen is dead, he pours gasoline on the body, burns it with a cigarette lighter and sets the entire barn on fire. Then he goes into his house and watches the burning barn from the window. Rolfe's narration reveals that Wade eventually murdered Jack the hunter (out of his own false suspicions), and left town, never to return again.

References

External links

*imdb title | id=0118564 | title=Affliction
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=158647 Synopsis by the All Movie Guide]
* [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990208/REVIEWS/902080301/1023]