Another harrowing detour to hell, not for the squeamish or prudish, this blistering adaptation of Hubert Selby’s shocking short-story collection about violence and suffering in the Brooklyn slums of the early 1950s is like watching a gang rape. You are horrified but unable to do anything about what you’re seeing.
Here are frank and explicit themes of homosexuality, prostitution, drug addiction, gang warfare, and union corruption that will make even the toughest viewer wince.
But the acting is superb – especially Jennifer Jason-Leigh as Tralala, a wounded, burned-out whore, and Stephen Lang as Harry Black, a gruff, two-fisted dockworker who discovers his true sexual identity with a fickle drag queen – and the bleak mosaic of Brooklyn’s lower depths has a weird beauty, like a canvas by Brueghel.
Alexis Arquette (Rosanna’s brother) creates an affecting portrait of Georgette, a transvestite whose longing for the brutal Vinnie (Peter Dobson) leads to disaster.
Harry Black
Stephen Lang Tralala
Jennifer Jason Leigh Vinnie
Peter Dobson Big Joe
Burt Young Donna
Ricki Lake Boyce
Jerry Orbach Sal
Stephen Baldwin Tony
Jason Andrews Freddy
James Lorinz Al
Sam Rockwell Mary Black
Maia Danziger Ella
Camille Saviola Spook
Cameron Johann Tommy
John Costelloe Paulie
Christopher Murney Georgette
Alexis Arquette
Director Uli Edel
Related Posts
Pretty Woman (1990) Pretty Woman is a funny, beautifully photographed, old-fashioned yet modern romantic love story. Julia Roberts plays Vivian, a Hollywood hooker who…
Live Fast, Die Young (1958) Sisters Kim and Jill Winters live in a dysfunctional family with a drunken unemployed father. Mum had left town with…
Romper Stomper (1992) Film critics hailed Romper Stomper as one of the most brilliant, provocative and truly exciting Australian motion pictures to appear on the…
Sleepers (1996) Four mischievous friends growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the 1960s - Michael, John, Tommy and 'Shakes' -…
Long Riders, The (1980) In post-Civil War Missouri, the James-Younger gang are heroes to the local people but when one of their number gets…
Babysitter, The (1995) Beautiful high-school student Jennifer starts babysitting for the wealthy Tucker family, only to inspire the fantasies of the alcoholic father…
Pleasantville (1998) This delightful comic fable begins in full colour in 1998, when an introverted, TV-watching teen, David (Tobey Maguire), and his…
Jacob's Ladder (1990) Jacob’s Ladder is a horror movie as an ethereal journey. Most of the film takes place in the spiritual world…
Here are frank and explicit themes of homosexuality, prostitution, drug addiction, gang warfare, and union corruption that will make even the toughest viewer wince.
Harry Black
