"The Addiction"-Abel Ferrara-1995
This is one I found by accident. I like vampires: movies, books, TV it doesn't really matter. I just binged "True Blood"; I know it isn't great, but I liked it better this time. In reading about vamps in movies and TV, I came across this title. I had no idea Ferrara made a vampire movie. Ferrara has a tortured world view. His films always seem off kilter to me. I do suffer from synoptic mind disorder, don't worry; it's only a mild case. However, if you choose to film a subject where there are rules, then you should have reasons for switching between lanes.
The film is the story of Kathleen Conklin (Liv Tyler) a PHD candidate in philosophy at NYU. We meet her in a class where a documentary about My Lai is shown. This disturbs her somewhat. We follow her in a very long tracking shot through the village. Late in the sequence we see an unusual woman following her. This turns out to be Cassanova (Annabella Scioria) a vampire. She accosts Kathleen and pulls her into an alley. She feeds, but she doesn't kill Kathleen. She ends up in student medical services. A policeman tells her she was lucky not to have her throat cut.
This is filmed in black and white, and very effectively by Ken Kelsch. The music is an excellent mixture of classical and 90's contemporary. Some songs were written for the movie. Ferrara doesn't take writing credit (Joe Delia), but I feel his influence. Is there a more artificial real world setting than a graduate school philosophy program? Kathleen has been turned; she wasn't buried with her maker. She goes off food, and blood extracted by syringe from a homeless man doesn't satisfy her craving. We are thrust into the world of addiction treatment. Because this is blood, we get a peek at AIDs treatment. The signs of a blood addiction increase. She is becoming very sensitive to light, her strength is growing, and finally going out in daylight becomes impossible.
Victims are found both in graduate school, particularly the library, but she also feeds off her thesis advisor and her best friend, but also in the streets for example a young black man looking for white girl action. Along the way Kathleen and Jean (Edie Falco) visit the Simon Wisenthal Center to view the Holocaust exhibits. The film uses philosophy to help understand Kathleen's situation. She rejects "Those who refuse to learn from history are condemned to repeat it." She plays with Descartes: "Cogito ergo sum (I think; therefor I am). "Dedita ergo sum", I am dedicated or addicted to what I do; therefor I am. Alternatively. "pecco ergo sum", I do evil, therefor I am. She meets an old vampire, Pena (Christopher Walken) who tells her he has mastered his addiction, but then he feeds off her, and leaves her with no real answers.
Surprisingly, Kathleen gets her life back together again; she completes her dissertation. At a party she throws; she offers to tell everyone what she has learned. She begins by feeding off the Dean. The party has a full compliment of vampire guests. A feeding frenzy occurs, Kathleen overeats, and she ends up in the hospital again. She gets a nurse to open the blinds, but Cassanova appears and closes them. A priest appears and offers her communion. We cut to an ending where Kathleen is in a graveyard looking at her tombstone.
What does one make of all this? "Existence is the search from relief from our habit; and our habit is the only relief we can find." Kathleen really needs True Blood. Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian) one of the world's top critics ranks this as one of his 10best films of all time. Most critics didn't agree, and neither did the public. However, this has some striking visual elements, a script that provokes thought, and very solid performances. I spoiled any unexpected surprises, but I think this is an experiential film, and one which leaves questions to ponder, but almost certainly not to answer. I enjoyed writing about this film. It is available to stream for free. Just remember: "We are not evil because of the evil we do. We do evil because we are evil."