Bad Lieutenant offers a devastating look at the decadence which makes the inhabitants of a city be they policemen or criminals +!+ degenerate into moral turpitude. The central theme of this violent and controversial film is the relationship between sin and salvation. Ferrara wondered: ‘How can a cop go to work every day and witness rape, torture and murder on a daily basis and not have his own concept of sin be affected?’The protagonist, the lieutenant, feeds his addiction to heroin, crack and alcohol with embezzlement and theft. He is up to his neck in debt and knows he is way past the point when salvation is still possible. In this darkest time of his life, two things feed his will to survive: he gambles and he is given the job of investigating the rape of a nun. In this strange case, the sacraments were also stolen and the altar desecrated. The police force is predominantly Catholic and everyone is shocked by this disgusting crime, apart from our hero. He thinks only of the opportunities which this case offers him to get back on the straight and narrow. The only trouble is that the nun won’t talk; she forgives her rapists.Harvey Keitel as the ‘Bad lieutenant’ generated the following: ‘This is, without doubt, his most mesmerising and intense role’ (Piers Handling, Toronto Film Festival catalogue), and: ‘Film’s frank treatment of drug addiction, obsessive sexuality and loss of religious faith spells instant controversy’ (Lawrence Cohn, Variety).
