The New Orleans Bedlam Police Department.

88. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)

Inspired by the 1992 film Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel, Herzog's film is said to neither be a sequel nor a straight remake. Nicolas Cage stars as Terrence McDonagh, a police officer working in post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. During the flooding of a prison block he severely injures his back attempting to help one of the prisoners out of their flooding jail cell. Upon recovering he is told that he'll experience back pain indefinitely and is prescribed for medication to alleviate the injury. This is where McDonagh's spiral into corruption first begins.

From the point that he injures his back in the flooding taking place during Hurricane Katrina Terrence McDonagh transforms into the quintessential antihero. Spiraling into his own corruption and self preservation he becomes wrapped into a life of drug use, bribed sexual favors, and eventually joins forces with the primary crime boss in the city. Nicolas Cage's performance as the corrupt, almost pitiful, detective is a remarkable oddity. Herzog's control of the actor seems less like strict direction and more like he released a raving madman from an asylum and let him run rampant throughout the film, nudging him in certain directions, shifting his performance though not controlling it. Thus Nicolas Cage is at his most unrestrained and while his performance may seem a little unorthodox, he even changes accents at times throughout the movie, it fits the character and the picture like a glove, giving a more than memorable portrayal of an unhinged police officer on the edge of his own well being and own sanity.

Another primary interesting aspect of the film is its time period and setting. The place and time are of course New Orleans following Katrina's destruction of the city. Crime has risen and authoritative justice has been tarnished and corrupted. The fact that McDonagh injures himself during the storm, which serves as the catalyst to his downfall into depravity is an important moment to note. McDonagh's only selfless act, saving a man from drowning, takes place before the after effects of the storm. The hurricane washes the filth from the cracks and rather than carrying them away brings them to the surface. We see the faults and imperfections of a part of the governing body, a section of the state designed to serve and protect doing the opposite, and these problems are naturally human imperfections with the men in a position of power.

10 Films of 2009:

10. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog)