i can’t believe keitel was 52 when they made this. the story is pretty well set up and it flows well, not harping too much on how much trouble he’s in, but enough that it’s a focus through the haze. i thought they should have completely left the rape scene out - it’s the only scene without keitel or what he sees (i think?) and they shot it pretty goofily with the camera all tilting around, the red gels and overdubbed screaming. it just was hard to take seriously in the context of the rest of the film. i think overall it would have helped the tone to just kind of ‘document’ and not even do any handheld shots, and when jesus shows up not show him, just watch keitel.
the scenes in the apartment with the screenwriter seemed too long. the scenes in the seedier apartment with the two women were abbreviated and they should have stuck with that. watching the whole process of freebasing and shooting up seemed to focus a lot of his character on the drugs but i thought it helped when they diversified his bad-ness more.
