THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL – NEW ORLEANS (2009)

Posted by Stephen Jannise

In many of his most successful films, director Werner Herzog considers the relationships between man and nature, both the figurative relationship between man and his inner nature (through narrative and character development) and the literal relationship between man and the surrounding environment (through the visual depiction of dangerous and uncivilized natural settings). In the 70s and 80s, Herzog, along with his muse and “best fiend” actor Klaus Kinski, made a series of acclaimed narrative films, such as Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Cobra Verde, in which Kinski portrayed characters who are thrust into extreme environments (Aguirre into the jungles of South America, Cobra Verde into the deserts of Africa) and, after finding themselves in positions of power, begin to dominate or even eliminate those around them, losing their grasp on sanity and civility before ultimately discovering that it can be very lonely at the top with only guilt and regret to keep you company.

Aguirre (left) and Timothy "Grizzly Man" Treadwell interact with nature.

In recent years, Herzog has managed to find true stories that suit this theme perfectly and turned them into documentaries. Grizzly Man, about an animal activist who spends years in the wild with a group of bears he has sworn to protect and is ultimately eaten by one of these bears, and Encounters at the End of the World, which follows a group of scientific researchers to the desolate landscape of Antarctica, both carry forward the ideas of his earlier fictional films, again taking place in the wilderness and ruminating on the harsh realities of nature and natural law. After all these decades spent in jungles, deserts, and arctic tundras, however, Herzog has finally found the one example of a contemporary urban landscape that accomodates the themes that have captured his imagination throughout his career, the one place within modern human civilization where, at least for a brief moment, the realities of nature became inescapable: post-Katrina New Orleans.

"Why is there an iguana on my fucking coffee table?"

This latest film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, once again depicts men and women living in a sort of wilderness alongside a variety of animals, perhaps in order to remind us of our own animal nature and the predatory dominance that so many animals desire, including ourselves. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, characters in the film must deal not only with lingering floodwaters but also an incursion of a number of different reptiles; alligators wander onto the roadways and force drivers into automobile accidents, and iguanas…well, see the picture above. But again, these are not the only animals prowling the streets of New Orleans; the city is overflowing with gangsters, hookers, bookies, and petty crooks, and seemingly everyone is hooked on marijuana, heroin, coke, and pills. Forget about the urban jungle; this is an urban cesspool. And the man who towers above it all, doing what he wants and taking what he pleases, is recently promoted Lieutenant Terence McDonagh, played by Nicolas Cage.

Known for giving the occasional loopy performance, Cage assumes the position once held by Kinski of Herzog’s partner-in-crazy. I cannot say that Cage replaces Kinski; the latter’s uniquely delirious talents are irreplaceable. But, then again, I don’t need to say that because Cage gives us something better than a replacement: a wholly original take on the Herzog protagonist. Where Kinski frequently managed to give serious and moving performances in situations where laughter was not necessarily the desired result (see picture above of Aguirre’s interaction with a monkey), Cage takes control of what could have been a run-of-the-mill crime procedural and explodes scene-after-scene with sometimes head-scratching humor. Having injured his back early on in the movie, Cage begins an addiction to pain pills and descends over the course of the movie into an increasingly drug-addled stupor, which allows Cage to make full use of his body and facial expressions and turn potentially mundane conversations into strikingly absurd ones.

"A man without a gun isn't a man."

Cage’s character separates himself from, and derives power over, the other delinquents in the city via the golden badge pinned to the inside of his jacket and the magnum pistol tucked into his pants, and, like the earlier Kinski characters, he is ultimately able to overcome a few minor adversities and get away with all of his transgressions thanks to this power he wields, losing in the process his sanity and a clear conscience. Thus, Herzog suggests that New Orleans, indeed all of civilized society, is no different from the more untamed environments of his previous films. Just as the laws of nature bestow power upon certain animals, allowing them to become predators, so too do the laws of our supposedly civilized society provide certain people (in this case, corrupt cops) with a sense of entitlement that allows them to prey upon those around them, but at what cost? Where Cage’s character finds himself, physically and mentally, at the end of the film, I’ll allow you to discover. It is nice to see Herzog confronting these ideas again, and I hope to see this new partnership with Cage continue…”till the break of dawn, baby!”

UPDATE: Due to this movie being so incredible, the Alamo Drafthouse has decided to give it a full theatrical run at the Ritz, beginning December 11. So go tell Santa to shove it because the Alamo is giving us the greatest gift of all two weeks early!