Date: Fri 07-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

Playing-Affliction-Coburn

Full Text:

NOW PLAYING: Coburn Deserved The Oscar Win For Ominous, Searing "Affliction"

By Trey Paul Alexander III

What is an affliction? The dictionary defines it as anything causing pain or

distress; or it implies pain, suffering, or distress imposed by illness, loss,

misfortune, etc. In director Paul Schrader's bleak but powerfully affecting

film Affliction, an adaptation of the Russell Banks novel, the sins of an

abusive, alcoholic father infect the lives of his family -- his afflictions

are so pervasive as to shape their very beings to the core -- and set the

stage for tragedy in a wintry, gray New England burg.

Now playing at the expanded Bethel Cinema, Affliction boasts an Oscar-winning

performance by James Coburn as the towering Glen Whitehouse, a vile man whose

only love seems reserved for the bottle that warms him in a snowy northern

town. Now an elderly man, but hardly infirm or unintimidating, the callousness

of his heart is symbolized by the literally cold house he keeps... a house in

which his wife actually freezes to death without him noticing it. Her death

brings together his three children: a daughter, only fleetingly seen, who has

left town and become a born-again Christian; Rolfe (Willem Dafoe), who also

fled and is now a college professor; and Wade (Nick Nolte), the only family

member remaining in this hometown, a divorced, part-time police officer who

feels "like a whipped dog."

Though the story is narrated by Rolfe, who decided to distance himself

physically and emotionally from his family, the central figure is Wade, a

pitiable character who must augment his meager cop salary by being the

beck-and-call errand boy of a local businessman. Wade grows increasingly

frustrated as he feels trounced upon by circumstance. His daughter withdraws

during their weekends together and spends the time longing to return to his

ex-wife and her new, rich husband; his investigation of an alleged hunting

accident may uncover some shady dealings in his small town; and despite

encouragement and support from his girlfriend Margie (Sissy Spacek), he can't

shake a sense of foreboding about his lot in life. Of course, lurking in the

distance is the spectre of Glen, his violet father whose contemptible ways may

be mapping the course for his suffering son.

Although Glen's horrific example undoubtedly marks everyone in his family,

Affliction does an excellent job of absolving no one of their own wrongdoing.

Though our sympathies lean towards Wade, they are not completely given over to

him, as at each turn at which he could forge his own path, he instead

continues down a self-destructive, slippery slope. He is not destined to

become his father, but each painful day, every situation that goes against him

seems to bring him closer to the gruff figure that assaults his memories (as

seen in grainy flashbacks, akin to some 8 mm home movie, albeit far from any

typical, joyous remembrance like a family trip to Disney World). When Glen

taunts Wade with, "You! I know you! You're my blood!" you fear the future that

awaits this tortured man. (By the way, this sequence is one of the most

powerful in the film -- indeed, of nearly any film from last year -- and

seemed a premium choice to use as a clip to showcase the work of two

Oscar-nominated actors. So, of course, they didn't use it during the Academy

Awards show! What were they thinking?)

Affliction , rated R for rough language and adult themes, unfolds slowly but

purposefully toward an ominous conclusion. The searing performances by Coburn

and Nolte dominate and bring dimension to this grim tale, one that refuses to

look away from the black recesses of a diseased, wicked human heart and the

contaminating poison it will assuredly inflict upon its offspring.