Affliction

Affliction
original film poster
Directed by	Paul Schrader
Produced by	Linda Reisman
Written by	Novel: Russell Banks Screenplay: Paul Schrader
Starring	Nick Nolte Sissy Spacek James Coburn Willem Dafoe
Release date(s)	December 30, 1998 (U.S. release)
Running time	114 min.
Language	English

Affliction is a 1998 film written and directed by Paul Schrader from the novel by Russell Banks. It stars Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn, Willem Dafoe, Mary Beth Hurt and Jim True.

It tells the story of Wade Whitehouse (Nolte), a small-town policeman in New Hampshire, whose investigation of an apparent hunting accident is influenced by his relationship with a violent, alcoholic father (Coburn), his increasing obsession with his past, his fraught relationship with his ex-wife (Mary Beth Hurt) and daughter (Brigid Tierney), and the death of his mother. All of these issues precipitate a personal crisis for Wade as the investigation proceeds.

James Coburn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Nick Nolte was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best actor.

Plot

The film is narrated by Wade's brother Rolfe (Willem Dafoe), who reveals early on that Wade (Nick Nolte) disappeared from town after the events related in the story, and was never found. Rolfe's periodic narration is in the present, so the movie is effectively a flashback from the perspective of Rolfe's narration. As the film begins, it is a snowy Halloween night. Wade is driving his daughter, Jill, to a Halloween party he has helped organize, but it is clear she would rather be trick-or-treating. At the party her disaffection and moodiness continues. She tells Wade she wants to go home. Jill eventually calls her mother to come and pick her up. When his ex-wife (Mary Beth Hurt) finally arrives, Wade shoves her lover against their car and watches them drive away with Jill. Wade vows to get a divorce lawyer to help gain custody of his daughter.

The next morning, Wade rushes to the scene of a crime. A hunting guide named Jack (Jim True) comes back from the woods claiming that the man with whom he was hunting accidentally shot and killed himself. The police believe Jack, but Wade, after noticing bloodstains on Jack's shoulder, slowly grows suspicious, believing that the man's death was no accident.

One day, Wade and his girlfriend Maggie Fogg (Sissy Spacek) arrive at the house of Wade's abusive father, Glen Whitehouse (James Coburn), whose brutal treatment of Wade and Rolfe as children is seen through home video-style flashbacks throughout the film. Wade goes upstairs and finds his mother lying dead in her bed from hypothermia. Glen Whitehouse reacts to her death with little surprise, and at the funeral wake, while everyone else displays grief, he gets drunk and loudly exclaims, "Not one of you is worth one hair on that woman's head!" At the wake he behaves aggressively toward his father, at one point holding him up against a wall in front of everyone.

Rolfe, who has come home for the funeral, has a long talk with Wade about the hunting accident, and suggests that Wade's murder theory is correct. Wade becomes so convinced by Rolfe's advice that he becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming the town hero. At one point in the film he begins to follow Jack in a car chase, convinced that Jack is running away from something and is involved in a conspiracy ring with the other police officers. A curiously nervous Jack finally pulls over, threatens Wade with a rifle, shoots out his tires, and drives off. Wade is so dumbfounded that he doesn't tell anyone.

Later in the film, Wade is confronted with a multitude of crises. He is fired from both of his jobs at the police station for his constant harassment of Jack. He has a painful toothache, and is forced to pull out the tooth with a pair of pliers (there is a brief shot of him crying from the pain). He collects Jill from his ex-wife's house, takes her to the local restaurant, and attacks the bartender in front of his daughter after he insults Wade. Then Wade takes Jill home to find Maggie leaving him. Wade grabs Maggie roughly and begs her to stay with him, but Jill rushes up and tries to push Wade away. In response, Wade hits Jill, causing her nose to bleed. She and Maggie drive off.

Wade is then approached by his father Glen, who congratulates him for finally showing his angry side, but Glen is more concerned that the farmhouse is almost dry. Wade, however, refuses to let his father drive to town. An enraged Glen follows Wade into the barn, sneaks up behind him, and hits him on the head with a bottle of Brown's whiskey. Wade quickly recovers, jumps up from the ground and knocks Glen unconscious with a rifle. He then pours gasoline on Glen, sets him alight with a cigarette lighter and as a consequence, sets the entire barn on fire. We see him watching the burning barn from a window of his house. Rolfe's narration reveals that Wade eventually murdered Jack the hunter (out of his own false suspicions), and left town, never to return.

Notes

Director Paul Schrader suggested in a conversation that Wade's brother is every bit as destructive as he is, but in a more passive-aggressive manner. He clearly is leading Wade to embrace his paranoid fantasy of the conspiracy surrounding Jack's client's death on the hunting trip. In this act, he is showing his contempt and anger towards Wade for not protecting him from their father while growing up.

External links

• Affliction at the Internet Movie Database
• Synopsis by Allmovie
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