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''Light Sleeper'' is a 1992 American crime
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...
written and directed by
Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collabo ...
and starring
Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...
,
Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
, and
Dana Delany Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama '' China Beach'' (1988–1991), for which ...
. Set in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
during a sanitation strike, the gritty
neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating s ...
film stars Dafoe as a high-class drug dealer battling a
midlife crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...
before becoming embroiled in tragic events following the chance encounter with a former girlfriend. While under-performing at the box office, the film was regarded favorably by critics.


Plot

John LeTour, a 40-year-old New Yorker, is one of two delivery men for Ann, who supplies an exclusive clientele in the banking and financing sector with drugs. While Ann contemplates switching to the cosmetics business, LeTour, who suffers from
insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...
, has lost his perspective in life. One night LeTour meets his ex-wife Marianne, with whom he once shared an intense but destructive relationship due to drug abuse. Although they stopped taking drugs, Marianne refuses his offer for a new start. After spending one night together, she tells him that this was her way of saying goodbye. Unbeknown to Marianne, her mother died at the hospital while she was with LeTour. The next time she meets LeTour, she attacks him, demanding that he get out of her life once and for all. Meanwhile, the police start observing LeTour because one of his clients, Tis, is connected to the drug-induced death of a young woman. On his next delivery, LeTour witnesses a heavily drugged Marianne in Tis' apartment. Only minutes after his departure, she falls several stories to her death. LeTour gives the police a lead to Marianne's last whereabouts. At the wake, Marianne's sister Randi tells him not to feel guilty for what happened. When Tis orders a new supply and insists that LeTour deliver it, he senses that Tis wants to dispose of him. Ann accompanies him, but Tis' guards force her to leave the room. In the subsequent shootout, LeTour kills Tis and both of his henchmen, but is left critically wounded. He lies down on the hotel bed, showing no anger or pain, only a profound weariness, as police sirens can be heard in the distance. Ann visits LeTour in jail, where he expresses his hopes for a better future. The film hints at the possibility that Ann will wait for him.


Cast

*
Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...
as John LeTour *
Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
as Ann *
Dana Delany Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama '' China Beach'' (1988–1991), for which ...
as Marianne Jost *
David Clennon David Clennon (born May 10, 1943) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Miles Drentell in the ABC series ''thirtysomething'' and ''Once and Again'', as well as his role as Palmer in the John Carpenter film '' The Thing''. He h ...
as Robert *
Mary Beth Hurt Mary Beth Hurt (''née'' Supringer; born September 25, 1946) is an American actress of stage and screen. She is a three-time Tony Award-nominated actress. Notable films in which Hurt has appeared include '' Interiors'' (1978), ''The World Accord ...
as Teresa Aranow *
Victor Garber Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...
as Tis Brüg * Jane Adams as Randi Jost * Robert Cicchini as Bill Guidone *
Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (199 ...
as Jealous *
David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...
as Theological Cokehead


Background

Schrader has described the film as a "man and his room" story like '' American Gigolo'' and his most famous screenplay which became the basis for Martin Scorsese's ''
Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...
''. In this film his character is dealing with
anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
over his life and the external forces that threaten it.Kevin Jackson, ''Schrader on Schrader'', Faber & Faber, London 1990. ''Light Sleeper'' also shares with ''American Gigolo'' an ending reminiscent of
Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have le ...
's ''
Pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...
'', in which the imprisoned hero is shown contemplating a new and hopefully better existence. The movie was still in the process of fundraising when production began, so Schrader financed the first three weeks of pre-production using his own money. ''Light Sleeper'' was the first artistic collaboration of
Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for four Academy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, t ...
and Paul Schrader, who met during filming of Martin Scorsese's '' The Last Temptation of Christ''. Dafoe and Schrader later collaborated in '' Affliction'' (1997), ''
Auto Focus ''Auto Focus'' is a 2002 American biographical drama film directed by Paul Schrader and starring Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on Robert Graysmith's book ''The Murder of Bob Crane'' (1993). ''Auto Focus ...
'' (2002), ''
The Walker ''The Walker'' is a 2007 independent crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Woody Harrelson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lauren Bacall, Ned Beatty, Lily Tomlin, Willem Dafoe, Moritz Bleibtreu and Mary Beth Hurt. It i ...
'' (2007), ''
Adam Resurrected ''Adam Resurrected'' ( he, אדם בן כלב, translit=''Adam Ben Kelev'') is a 2008 drama film directed by Paul Schrader and written by Noah Stollman based on a 1968 novel of the same name by Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk (the book's original nam ...
'' (2008), '' Dog Eat Dog'' (2016) and '' The Card Counter'' (2021). Schrader had originally intended to use songs from Bob Dylan's album ''
Empire Burlesque ''Empire Burlesque'' is the 23rd studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 10, 1985 on Columbia Records. Self-produced, the album peaked at in the U.S. and in the UK. Accompanied by multiple session musicians—inc ...
,'' but Schrader and Dylan could not agree on which songs to use and Schrader decided to use songs by
Michael Been Michael Kenneth Been (March 17, 1950 – August 19, 2010) was an American rock musician who achieved critical attention and rotation play on MTV in the 1980s with his band The Call. He later released an album of his solo work and toured with hi ...
instead.Audio commentary by Paul Schrader on the ''Light Sleeper'' DVD. ''Light Sleeper'' premiered at the
Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fes ...
in February 1992 and was released in the US on August 21 that same year, earning $1 million at the box office.''Light Sleeper''
at the
Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
.
It gained mostly positive reviews and received various nominations, including the
Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...
. Willem Dafoe was awarded the
Sant Jordi Award The Sant Jordi Awards ( ca, Premis Sant Jordi, links=no; es, Premios Sant Jordi, links=no) are film prizes awarded annually by the Catalan branch of the Spanish public radio network Radio Nacional de España Radio Nacional de España (acr ...
as best actor. In a telegram, German filmmaker
Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
congratulated Schrader, stating that his direction was in a league with that of
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese director
Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in ...
, who both Wenders and Schrader admire. In a 2005 interview, Schrader called ''Light Sleeper'' his most personal film.


Reception

''Light Sleeper'' received positive reviews from critics. It holds an 86% approval rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 44 reviews, with a rating average of 7.50/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Light Sleeper'' requires patience, but delivers commensurate rewards -- and boasts an absorbing performance from Willem Dafoe."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc D ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
wrote, "Schrader knows this world of insomnia, craving and addiction. And he knows all about people living in a cocoon of themselves. ��In film after film, for year after year, Paul Schrader has been telling this story in one way or another, but never with more humanity than this time”.
Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for '' Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 201 ...
of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cultu ...
'' wrote ''Light Sleeper'' is " ��a small but absorbing mood piece ��even when the film doesn't gel, one is held by Willem Dafoe's grimly compelling performance”. Writing for ''
Time Out Film Guide Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
,''
Geoff Andrew Geoff Andrew (born 1954) is a British writer and lecturer on film, and Programmer-at-large at BFI South Bank. After gaining a First in Classics at King's College, Cambridge, he was for some years programmer at London's Electric Cinema in Nottin ...
said the film is a "stylish ''film…''But the story meanders, and it echoes ''Taxi Driver'' and ''American Gigolo'' so closely that Schrader is working less than fresh variations on over-familiar themes”.''Time Out Film Guide'', Seventh Edition 1999, Penguin Books, London, 1998.


References


External links

* * * {{Paul Schrader 1992 crime drama films 1992 films American crime drama films 1990s English-language films Films about drugs Films directed by Paul Schrader Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Paul Schrader Insomnia in film 1990s American films 1992 independent films