The Funeral / The Addiction [Region 2] |  | Director: Abel Ferrara
Actors: Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken, Annabella Sciorra, Chris Penn, Edie Falco
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 185091
Format: PAL
Languages: English (Original Language), Italian (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Discs: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5060002831205
ASIN: B00009KOYI
Theatrical Release Date: November 1, 1996
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
 "Everything We Are Is Eternally With Us" November 5, 2005
Hand of Doom (The Wonderful World of Colonized Minds)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
"One aspect of determinism is manifested in the fact that the unsaved don't recognize the sin in their lives; they're unconscious of it. They don't suffer pangs of conscience because they don't recognize evil exists. This is because they're all predestined to Hell and therefore never brought to the Light of metanoia{conversion}...so when considering the salvatory aspects of facing guilt, suffering is a good thing. We should all hope to feel guilty, to feel pain, so we can seek pardon and ultimately freedom. Guilt is a sign that god is working out your destiny, and it's a foolish person who refuses to acknowledge this."
The above quote is taken from the film, and is given by Kathleen's[Lili Taylor]philosophy professor, alluding to the thematic framework for Abel Ferrara's powerful and allegoric tale of redemption vis-a-vis existentialism meets vampirism ...similar to how Jim Jarmusch incorporated existentialism and mysticism into the western genre with his brilliant "Dead Man"[also filmed in black and white.]
"The Addiction" is quite unique, not your average horror movie. Don't be fooled by the ridiculous looking video box cover{no DVD available}. I'd seen it many years ago and stumbled on it again as IFC aired it late Halloween night. It's stark, grim, futile, very 'human'...the story need be in order to propell Kathleen toward the possibility of salvation. As most people aren't inclined to examine the metaphysical and philosophic elements of existence, the film may be substantively lost on many viewers who won't be bothered with a movie that requires thinking and feeling outside of the usual pedestrian horror movie cliches. The focus here is soul sickness, redemption and Christian iconography, much like Ferrara's wrenching "Bad Lieutenant."
Taylor gives a pained performance as an ordinary college student coming to terms with the vast array of evil deeds carried out by mankind. This is framed within her academic studies{philosophy, examining war atrocities}, but when she is violently attacked{yet chosen/accepted}while walking home one night, reality forces her from detached, speculative positions on evil into the burdensome gravity of facing that which is a very real aspect of humanity. You fear for her yet are fearful of her, and the nature of her addiction remains elusive.
In one scene, Kathleen seduces a fellow student in a library, coaxes her back to her apartment in order to feed. The distraught girl stands sobbing in front of the bathroom mirror, applying a bandage to her neck as Kathleen coldly sizes her up.
Her victim pleads "don't you care what you did to me! doesn't it affect you?" She replies, "Why didn't you tell me to leave, to get lost like you really meant it? My indifference is not the concern here; it's your astonishment that needs studying."
In another scene, Kathleen, checking herself over in the mirror before going out, thinks to herself, "is it wrong for me to draw blood? No. It's the violence of my will over theirs."
There's similar dialogue throughout, examining attitudes of moral ambivalence and apathy toward evil, even our species' desire for it. At the story's conclusion, Kathleen, now hospitalized after a heinous binge feeding, is confronted by the woman who initially attacked her, or, who she oddly submitted to. She symbolizes a quasi devil-on-your-shoulder attempting to justify evil, moral indifference and will to power just before the pastor arrives to give Kathleen her "last rites."
"Nobody can fall so low unless he has a great depth. If such a thing can happen to a man, it challanges his best and highest on the other side; that is to say, this depth corresponds to a potential height, the blackest darkness to a hidden light." ~ C.G.Jung
Given the realistic griminess and overall bluntness of the film, it concludes with a rather lyrical and moving scene of redemption and salvation, haunted by Kathleen's voice-over ..."To face what we are in the end, we stand before the Light, and our true nature is revealed; self-revelation is annihilation of self."
You'll watch it more than once November 22, 2000
Eric M. Schmidt (Tucson, AZ United States)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
The Addiction is an artsy vampire movie that strays from what most movie goers see in vampire films. It is shot entirely in black and white-which adds to the dark setting. Vampirism is portrayed in much the same way as drug addiction here. Lili Taylor turns in an excellent performance as Kathleen, a philosophy student who is plunged into the dark world of the vampire. As she is transformed gradually in the movie the fact that she is a philosophy student plays a large role. She is forced to reconcile her new life with the existentialism that is the focus of her studies. As she becomes more sure of herself in her new life, an elder vampire Peina (played by the creepy Christopher Walken) throws a wrench in the works. Lili Taylor's voice is marvelous in the dark settings where her character contemplates her new existence with philosophy. Where will her journey into darkness take her...? This movie is well written, visually appealing, and the main charcters are deep. You will want to watch it more than once to be sure.
Vampires get smart! September 10, 1999
Jennifer J. Keeland (Portland, OR USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This film was delicious! A joy to watch. Lili Taylor has proven once again that she can do anything. I loved the letterbox format in black and white. It adds an air of class and a certain mystique. Very well done!
Outstanding. An authentic spiritual journey. Amazing. July 16, 1999
Dale Snauwaert (dts18@columbia.edu) (New York)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Addiction is one of the most profound, moving, disturbing, and enlightening movies I have ever encountered. An authentic spiritual journey into the darkness of giving one's personal power away and losing one's self: the very essence of evil. It leads to self-empowerment and spiritual awakening. An amazing experience.
Captures the essence of an eternal question July 27, 1999
mdf002@bridgewater.edu (Bridgewater, Virginia)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The protagonist's struggle with vampirism embodies her question of determinism verses existential freedom. Showing this film in class would have saved my philosophy professor hours of lecture. If you pay attention when you watch it The Addiction will leave you with a more complete and lasting sense of horror than any slasher movie.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 35
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