Noites Violentas no Brooklyn

I remember my intense eagerness to see this film. I wasn't entirely sure why at the time but when I finally saw it in 1990 I was devastated and soon addicted to this sad tale of city life spiralling out of control. Its a film with an epic quality and a grand, sweeping style that turns the city scape into a character in itself. This was Uli Edel's (as he was then known) classic and it remains a remarkably strong film. Its not pretty and doesn't hold back in revealing the light and dark of its characters. Brutal it may be, but there is something vital and alive seething in this movie with anger and pain. Its source is Hubert Selby Jr's novel. I believe its a superior adaptation.

The film is based around a union strike which threatens to cripple the city of Brooklyn in the 1950s. The film focuses several characters; Harry, the troubled union leader struggling to come to terms with his desires for other men and his gender-bending lover against the anger, aggression and hypocrisy of the era; a woman, TraLaLa, who sells her body for money but finds herself committing the ultimate crime of her profession by falling for a client - an army man destined to hurt her; a family with a daughter pregnant out of wedlock; a gang of aimless young men hungry for trouble; and a young teen looking for love in TraLaLa.

Its a film full of fascinating performances which reinforce the greatness of this film. Jennifer Jason Leigh burst into the spotlight with her startling performance as TraLaLa. She embodies the role with unceasing honesty and vigour. It is her late scenes in the film which rip at the heart, especially when she finds compassion in an unlikely source at the worst of moments. Her portrayal doesn't seek sympathy - on the contrary Jennifer Jason Leigh gets deep inside the cruel and manipulative character to reveal the hope beneath without a false note. Peter Dobson, Stephen Baldwin are a brilliant combination as the thugs and Alexis Arquette is remarkable as their taunted worshipper, Georgette. Ricki Lake, Sam Rockwell and Stephen lang also excel in a great ensemble film.

I can still picture vividly the majesty and intensity of the strike riot and the water spraying at the wire fence as strikers confront the police.

There are many great scenes such as this which combined with striking performances and an unflinching script and score make Last Exit to Brooklyn a modern masterpiece. This is a highly underrated film, mainly because of the view that the subject matter is too seamy, grotesque and extreme. And there is no doubt this is a confronting, violent and provocative film experience. Unfortunately, because of this widely heralded view, many people are missing out on an unacknowledged classic. Don't miss out.

Mark Knopfler's beautiful and melancholy score paints a haunting and pained picture, over this, an extremely hard-hitting drama, superbly directed by Uli Edel.

For 1989, its release date and set around Brooklyn in the 1952, this is as strong as films got. The "C" word, rape scenes, florid homosexuality and sexual violence - from a novel (by Hubert Selby jnr) that was initially banned under the Obscene Publications Act.

So, why watch it? There's a sense of brooding beauty about it, in the same way that West Side Story had flawed characters, in so many conflicts, within their own community and incomers, such as military servicemen, at night, looking for a great time. Enter busty, platinum blonde and cocky Jennifer Jason Leigh, who gets men in bars buying her drinks, leads them out for some 'fun' and then her mates bash him round the head with a bottle. Grabbing the money, they're just those hoodlums from west Side...just older, doing worse things.

Stephen Lang, meanwhile, is the shop steward for a union, that's called its dockside workers out. He's raking in on expenses, for things he doesn't even need. He's got a wife and baby, but leaves them at night to go out with Regina (actually, Reginald) a camp gay and his bitching transvestite buddies.

As you can see, this is strictly for adults and no, I haven't read the book. A friend I lent the DVD to, who's read all manner of literature, from the classics to strong stuff like this, just said "Wow".

It's a memorable and distinctive film. Not one that's known, either commercially, or infamously. It doesn't seem to get bundled up with the likes of Natural Born Killers or A Clockwork Orange. Maybe cos it has a heart; a survivoral instinct that's most apparent in the Italian families in the film, headed by Burt Young, who of course played Paulie, Rocky Balboa's wheezing training aide, in the Rocky movies.

My Universal release has a fine transfer and is quite cheap, especially secondhand. So, if you want something pretty edgy, but with a heart and a pulse, this could end up in your player.

In 1952, a panoramic view of the other side of North America is presented through the life of different characters and their dramatic stories, having Brooklyn in common. Tralala (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a prostitute, connected with a violent street gang composed of small time crooks. They swindle most of Tralala clients, stealing their money. She meets a young lieutenant from Idaho, who falls in love with her. The labor union is on strike against the employers, placing picket against the trucks and protesting in front of the factory. American soldiers are again fighting in another war, this time against Korea. Maybe the only missing point in this film is the declared racism of those times. This sad, depressive and violent movie is another great work of Uli Edel, mainly known by `Christiane F'. The cast has amazingly performances, and the scene when Tralala is raped by dozens of men in an abandoned car is one of the most strong I have ever seen in a movie. I agree with the words of IMDB User Comments: `Great film, but not a piece of entertainment'. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): `Noites Violentas no Brooklin' (`Violent Nights in the Brooklyn')

Last Exit to Brooklyn is a great flick. It's brutal, dark, funny as heck at times, and in the end uplifting. Watching this movie it was hard to imagine this was based on a book from the 50's. A book which explores homosexuality, prostitution, sexual confusion would seem to be almost unheard of subjects in the uptight, Leave It To Beaver 1950's. People who put down this film don't know what they're talking about. The author of the book this movie was based on said himself he thought this was one great adaptation of his novel. And he was sure right. Folks who can handle the dark, brutal films of David Lynch, the Coen Brothers and Tarantino, Scorsese, Kubrick, Hartley and Fosse will dig this movie. But if "You've Got Mail" is your idea fo a great rental, you won't like it a bit. It's just as well, a lot of great, cool films aren't for everyone.

Working class life in 1950's Brooklyn is disrupted by a strike.

One of these films that seems about nothing in the explaining (the ups and downs of the roughhouse working-class), but is a very powerful piece in the watching and highly recommended.

The film reminded me of an X rated version of American Graffiti where people go about their ordinary lives, but somehow, we become fascinated. While actually shot in West German (when there was one) there are too many real NY character actors for us to notice.

There is fair amount of stupidity and leaching. The male hustler and the whore stick in your mind longer, but the working class morals of all the characters are well observed. Certain scenes actually play no real role in the plot, but add to the feel of time and place.

A lot of people will be shocked by this movie. It is brutally frank and at times violent, but it is never just put there for entertainment. This is an adult picture dealing with adult themes and adult lives. I found it quite hard to watch at times myself, but I think it is an important film and no insult to the classic Selby book which inspired it.