7. House of the Rising Sun &...

Lyrics

There is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one

My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gamblin' man
Down in New Orleans

Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's on a drunk

Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun

Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I'm goin' back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain

Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one


I haven't got much to say about this song. I find it one of the most annoying songs I've ever heard. The clip is wonderful to see though. It is so dated. No one today would even think of filming such a clip in a non-ironic way. Since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans it has become a popular city to set movies in. Especially movies about people living in sin and misery. The destruction of the city can be used as a mirror or a metaphor for the lives of the characters and it can help establish a negative, unpleasant atmosphere.

The Movie: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)

This is unfortunately the only film I've seen by Werner Herzog. I say unfortunately, because from what I've read about him and his movies, Herzog seems like a really interesting and odd director. This movie is probably the best starting point for Herzog's filmography though. It has a conventional plot and is filled with famous actors (Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes), but it is full of wonderfully unique and absurd scenes.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Terence is a lieutenant addicted to a lot of different drugs, because of his back pain. He does many bad things, but we sympathize with him, because we realize he is in pain. He also cares for his girlfriend and father and is genuinely good at his work. In his quest for the killers of a Senegalese family he goes too far and is put of the case. Yet in the end due to his help the case is solved and he is the redeemed hero. There are a lot of movies to which some version of this plot description applies.

The interesting thing here is that Werner Herzog doesn't seem to give a damn about whether Terence will redeem himself or not. Or whether we care about him or not. He is more (or only) interested in style and creating an everything-is-going-to-hell-atmosphere. Terence may be a bad lieutenant, but there is hardly a good character in the movie. And Terence can find drugs anywhere he goes. Besides in the end he may be redeemed, but that's only in the eyes of the cops. We know that he is still pretty much the same man he was at the beginning of the movie. That he is more loved know is only through sheer luck.

As I said the movie is full of crazy scenes. Werner Herzog is interested in nature and animals. He has made documentaries about people working with grizzlies and about life on the North Pole. In this movie there are many scenes involving animals. It starts with a close-up of a snake swimming through the floods of Katrina. At one point in the film we also get a close-up of a crocodile for no particular reason, but the fact that Herzog wanted to. And at one point during his investigation Terence has to drive around town with his father's dog on the back seat. But the most wonderful use of an animal may be during a scene where the police is spying on the criminals. The scene starts of pretty normal, if not for the fact that there are also two iguanas in the same room as the police. After this has been established we follow the scene from the point of view of one of the iguanas. But my favorite scene in the movie does not involve animals. You'll see it at the end of this review. In the scene you'll also see that Terence is played by Nicolas Cage, who is having the time of his life. And even if the rest of the movie were crap it would have been worth seeing it just to see Cage enjoying his role so much.