DEATH NOTE: A Light Adaptation

Director: Adam Wingard
Writers: Charley Parlapanides, Vlas Parlapanides, Jeremy Slater
Cast: Nat Wolff, Lakeith Stanfield, Margaret Qualley, Shea Whigham, Willem Dafoe
Runtime: 101 mins.
2017

A quick word about adaptation. Translating a work of art to a new medium isn't just about copying what came before. It must be an entirely new work. Adaptations don't derive their value from how close they come to replicating the original, but from how they function on their own merits. No art can perfectly replicate what worked in a different medium and time.

There are questions that all artists ought to answer as they create, but these questions become especially pressing with adaptation. Why does your work need to exist? What makes it relevant now? What about this medium enhances your ability to tell the story?

Adam Wingard's Death Note cares dick all about these questions. You'd be hard pressed to find a compelling original idea in this mess. I guess there are slightly futuristic guns?

BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS - The Bliss of Evil

Director: Werner Herzog
Writer: William M. Finkelstein
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer, Xzibit
Runtime: 122 mins.
2009

I cannot stop thinking about this clip from an interview with director Werner Herzog, so I'll replicate it here in full:

Nicolas Cage would not sign his contract unless I was directing the film and I would not sign my contract unless he was the leading character in the film, so there was an immediate basis. We never had had any contact before, but we watched each other's work in a way, and I think we complemented each other very well. Nicolas knew I would get the very best out of him. I always get the very best out of actors ... He said to me on the second day of shooting, 'Werner, you know I hate to ask you this because I know you cannot stand debating the character development of your figures onscreen, you cannot stand these endless debates about motivation.' Yes, it's true, I cannot stand it. He said to me, 'But one quick question, maybe you'll have some sort of a quick answer. Why is the Bad Lieutenant bad? Is it the drugs? Is it Hurricane Katrina? Is it the corruption of the police force? Is it his messed up family life?' And i said to him, 'Don't enumerate anything more, let's stop it right here. Nicolas, there's such a thing like the bliss of evil. Go for it.'

This brief anecdote perfectly encapsulates the respective essences of Herzog, Cage, and the film itself. Certainly Bad Lieutenant is preoccupied with the matter of evil, but what makes the movie dance is its pursuit of bliss. A film that observes a man careening towards physical and spiritual self-destruction, in a devastated city long abandoned by a racist government, featuring act after act after act of wanton cruelty... well, a film like that ought to be a tough watch. Yet somehow, Bad Lieutenant is the most bleakly funny movie I have seen in quite a long time.

Top Ten 2019

Other Top Ten Lists

I wasn't overly enamored with the movies of 2019, but every year has its cinematic rewards. Although 2020 is throwing that claim into uncertainty. Already dozens of high profile movies have been pulled from the release schedule, with who knows how many more to come. Many new films will drop on streaming services, but even so it's difficult to imagine a full and satisfying list of 2020 favorites eight months from now.

All the more reason to celebrate the treasures of 2019. My hope as always is to expose you to works of art that hadn't crossed your radar, or that fell by the wayside. This is the opportune moment for artistic exploration; we may have a freeze on new releases in all this craziness, but luckily we have a whole 100+ years of film to catch up on.