Abel Ferrara - The Sadist of Cinema

Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American director, known for the provocative and often controversial content of his films, for his use of neo-noir imagery and for his gritty urban settings. A longtime independent filmmaker, some of his best-known films include Ms .45 (1981), King of New York (1990), Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996). Early life Ferrara was born in the Bronx, of Italian and Irish descent. He was raised Catholic, which would later have an effect on much of his work. At age 8, he moved to Peekskill in Westchester County, New York, where he began making films at Rockland Community College. He later attended the SUNY Purchase film conservatory, where he directed several short films. Career Early work Finding himself out of work after film school in 1976, Ferrara directed a pornographic film, 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy, using a pseudonym. Starring his then-girlfriend, he recalled having to step in front of the camera for one scene to perform in a hardcore sex scene: “It's bad enough paying a guy $200 to fuck your girlfriend, so he can't get it up].” Ferrara first drew a cult following with his film The Driller Killer (1979), an urban slasher film about an artist (played by the director himself) who descends into a murderous rage with a power drill.

In the UK, Abel Ferrara's film made it onto a list of "nasty videos" compiled by moral crusaders, which led to prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the passing of new legislation forcing all video releases to go before the British Board of Film Classification for rating. The directors' next feature was Ms .45 (1981), a "rape-revenge" film about a mute garment worker turned killer (Zoë Tamerlis). Critics called it "a provocative, disreputable film well worth seeing". In 1984 Ferrara was hired to direct Fear City, starring Melanie Griffith, Billy Dee Williams, Rae Dawn Chong and María Conchita Alonso.

When a "kung fu slasher" stalks and kills young women working at a seedy Times Square strip club, a washed-up boxer played by Tom Berenger uses his fighting skills to take down the killer. Abel Ferrara worked on two TV series produced by Michael Mann, directing the two-hour pilot of Crime Story (aired September 18, 1986), starring Dennis Farina, and two episodes of Miami Vice. King of New York (1990) stars Christopher Walken as gangster Frank White, alongside Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes, David Caruso and Giancarlo Esposito. The film received overall mixed reviews, but Ferrara was praised for his strong command of mood and style.

Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Abel Ferrara's film: "What Ferrara needs for his next film is a sound screenplay". Bad Lieutenant (1992) credits Ferrara and actress Zoë Tamerlis, who plays the woman who helps the lieutenant's crack-addicted heroine in the film, as co-writers of the screenplay, though Tamerlis claimed she wrote it alone. Bad Lieutenant received Spirit Award nominations for best director and best actor, and despite its controversial content, the film was praised by critics. Director Martin Scorsese named it one of his 10 best films of the 1990s. In 1993, Ferrara was hired for two Hollywood studio films: another remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, titled Body Snatchers (1993), for Warner Bros.; and Dangerous Game (1993), starring Keitel and Madonna, for MGM. In the mid-1990s Ferrara directed two well-received independent films: The Addiction (1995), shot in black and white, stars Lili Taylor as a philosophy student who succumbs to a vampire while grappling with the problem of evil and philosophical pedagogy, embodied by the most violent events of the 20th century. The film also features Christopher Walken, Annabella Sciorra, Edie Falco, Kathryn Erbe and Michael Imperioli. It was co-produced by Russell Simmons. The Funeral (1996), starring Walken, Sciorra, Chris Penn, Isabella Rossellini, Benicio del Toro, Vincent Gallo and Gretchen Mol, was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including best director.

After making The Blackout (1997) with Matthew Modine and Dennis Hopper, Abel Ferrara contributed to the omnibus television film Subway Stories. Ferrara then made New Rose Hotel (1998), reuniting him with Christopher Walken. Ferrara in 2008. Ferrara returned three years later with 'R Xmas (2001), starring Drea de Matteo and Ice-T. He recorded commentary tracks for Driller Killer and King of New York and made Mary (2005), a multi-strand, religiously themed film starring Juliette Binoche, Matthew Modine, Forest Whitaker, Heather Graham, Marion Cotillard and Stefania Rocca. Mary premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2005. It swept the awards ceremony, winning the Grand Jury Prize, the SIGNIS Award and two others. It was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2007, Abel Ferrara directed Go Go Tales, a comedy starring Modine, Bob Hoskins and Willem Dafoe that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival but was never released in US theaters