In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Wednesday 10 July 2013

LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN [1989]

1952 Brooklyn is Hell in director Uli Edel's adaptation of Requiem For A Dream author Hubert Selby, Jr.'s classic novel, Last Exit To Brooklyn.
It's a difficult novel to adapt and Edel doesn't quite get a grip on it, by toning down quite a bit of the harsher material and letting the 6 narratives of the novel mesh into each other making for an uneven viewing.  Not to say that it isn't all rainbows and puppy dogs because it's still a pretty depressing and uncomfortable viewing dealing with poverty, drug addiction, violence, prostitution and transvestites.   Edel does a wonderful job at blacking out the rest of the world that surrounds the neighborhood making it feel all the more claustrophobic and hopeless.

3 trouts for a hat out of 5

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