New Rose Hotel (1998)

Given the rapid advancements in technology since the 1990's, it's inevitable that the massive technological achievements made in the 90's are bound to be seen as somewhat primitive when looked back upon with modern eyes, yet its nevertheless fascinating seeing how the tech revelations of the 90's shape the current tech climate. Naturally the science fiction genre was in no short supply of inspiration given the ever-evolving realm of technology and several films with concepts that at the time were thought of as futuristic seem terrifyingly prophetic. Considering the prevalence of drones, self-preserving bots, radically advanced virtual reality and immersive RPG's, films like Hardware (1990), Total Recall (1990) and eXistenz (1999), just to name a few, don't seem all that far-fetched. With the ever-increasing popularity of the internet in the 90's, the cyberpunk subgenre was particularly fruitful and one of the most surprising and overlooked films to come out of the wave of high tech features was New Rose Hotel, Abel Ferrara's adaptation of the story by William Gibson, largely considered the forefather of cyberpunk. Ferrara might not seem like the first choise to direct a cyberpunk film, however he was no stranger to science fiction having helmed the underrated Body Snatchers (1993) earlier in the decade and much like that film, New Rose Hotel presents a highly singular approach to genre, resulting in one of Ferrara's most curious yet brilliantly realized works.

Fox (Christopher Walken) and X (Willem Dafoe), two independent contractors specializing in luring big money players away from their current employers in favor of their competitors set their sights on Hiroshi, a brilliant scientist who recently developed a way to synthesize viruses. Currently working for the Maas corporation, Fox and X concoct a plan to coerce Hiroshi to join Hosaka, Maas' main competition, utilizing the charms of the beautiful Sandii (Asia Argento), who's tasked with seducing Hiroshi into falling in love, eventually leaving his wife and job. The seemingly foolproof plan is quickly put to the test however when X develops feelings for Sandii, his jealously potentially complicating matters as well as the danger of Maas uncovering Fox and X's plan to steal their star employee.

Much like The Driller Killer (1979), Ms. 45 (1981), Body Snatchers and The Addiction (1995) before it, New Rose Hotel is yet another case study in Ferrara taking genre based material and reshaping it in a forward thinking manner. What's especially interesting regarding New Rose Hotel is the way Ferrara essentially takes the story's genre trappings and uses them as a backdrop more than anything else. To be sure, the sci-fi tone is ever present, with Ferrara constantly giving off the aura of the story taking place in a futuristic, almost dystopian environment entirely controlled by mega conglomerates and technology tracing the move of every citizen. Despite the original story being written in the 80's and the film in the late 90's, the current state of affairs as it relates to surveillance is a staple of the film, with several scenes showing various characters through video capture, and most fascinatingly and perhaps entirely appropriate, Hiroshi himself is seen exclusively via surveillance camera footage. By and large though, its the nature of the relationship between Fox, X and Sandii that Ferrara is most concerned with, the drama that develops along with X's affections for Sandii giving the film an extra layer of intrigue which becomes more pronounced during the films final third. Presenting everything through flashbacks to previous scenes with slightly altered dialogue and sound and editing that takes the film into an almost Lynchian territory, Ferrara toys around with perceptions of how the story unfolded, ending the film on a hauntingly ambiguous note.

During a 2012 interview, Ferrara spoke at length about New Rose Hotel and was rather candid (as if he ever isn't) about the bad state several key players were in during filming which led to a turbulent production and belligerent crew, some of which Ferrara admitted to firing during the shoot. Hilariously he also states that Argento basically swooped in much like her character in the film and claimed ownership of her role. Argento also shot a short behind the scenes documentary, Abel/Asia (1998) during production. The film also marked the first collaboration between Ferrara and Willem Dafoe who would go on to star in Ferrara's Go Go Tales (2007), 4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011) and Pasolini (2014). The film is also to date the final collaboration between Ferrara and Christopher Walken after memorable turns in King of New York (1990), The Addiction and The Funeral (1996). In the same previously mentioned interview, Ferrara makes some interesting statements regarding technology, specifically the internet saying “The information highway is leading straight to Hell” and described the rather dubious nature of a lot of online journalism as “an echo of a rumor”. Again, the film may have been shot in 1998 and its cyberpunk footing making it very much of its time, it's the sentiments found in those quotes from Ferrara that made Gibson's story and Ferrara's film very much ahead of their time.  

The Gladiator (1986)

Given the oftentimes provocative and confrontational nature of his films and indeed, his personality, Abel Ferrara might not seem like the number one contender for television projects however a look at his filmography reveals many a TV credit, several of which are rather interesting. Ferrara's most high profile TV work came in 1985 when he helmed 2 episodes of Miami Vice during the second season and the feature length pilot episode of the NBC series Crime Story was directed by Ferrara in 1986. Ferrara followed up China Girl (1987) with The Loner (1988), a TV feature that once again centered around cops and Ferrara was also behind a fascinatingly cryptic segment of the HBO anthology film Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground (1997) entitled “Love on the A-Train”. One of the more curious TV projects Ferrara was involved with was the third episode of the first season of the short lived ABC series FBI: The Untold Stories, with Ferrara directing portions of “The Judge Wood Case”, detailing the assassination of Judge John H. Wood Jr., who was shot and killed in 1979 by Charles Harrelson, father of actor Woody Harrelson. Ferrara's best TV work however came in 1986 in the form of The Gladiator, a TV film that, coming in the wake of films like Ms. 45 (1981) and Fear City (1984), feels the most at home among the rest of his output.

Eager to get out on the road after getting his learners permit, Jeff Benton goes for a driving lesson with his older brother Rick. After speeding up at a yellow light, the two find themselves being aggressively followed by a mysterious driver who begins rear-ending Rick's truck, the distraction causing Jeff to miss a red light and the two are stuck by an 18-wheeler, killing Jeff. Stricken with grief and rage after getting out of the hospital, Rick, a mechanic by trade, turns vigilante, vowing to avenge his brothers death and soon takes to the streets in his newly suped up truck, dubbing himself “The Gladiator” after his late brothers soccer team, and quickly gains the attention of the public and police, taking out reckless drivers with his main target being the “Death Car” driver who killed his brother and has been responsible for more fatal hit-and-runs in the area.

Despite the fact that Ferrara has referred to The Gladiator as “pure prostitution” and “strictly for the paycheck”, the film hardly feels like an anonymous work for hire job and a closer inspection makes the film seem like the intended follow-up to the aforementioned Ms. 45 and Fear City. The vengeance angle of the story obviously places the film somewhat in the territory of Ms. 45 (though to be certain both films are very different from each other) but it's Fear City the film feels the closest too, especially as it relates to the main characters of both films. Much like Tom Berrenger's Matt Rossi in Fear City, Ken Wahl's Rick is in constant conflict with himself. Pushed to extremes to right a wrong, the constantly moody Rick eventually enters that morally gray area so many Ferrara characters find themselves in as he begins to question if his vigilante tactics are doing the good he intended, making Rick fit right in with the likes of the titular Bad Lieutenant (1992) and Eddie Israel in Dangerous Game (1993). What's also worth noting is that Ferrara doesn't seem to be making any particular judgments as it relates to vigilante justice, choosing instead to focus solely on Rick's state of mind as the vigilantism increases just as he did with Zoe Lund's Thana in Ms. 45. This sets the film apart from so many other TV movies which often have a “message” behind them. Never once does the film come off as preachy in any way.

An interesting thing regarding the film according to Ferrara that was revealed in Brad Stevens' Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision, Ferrara took on the project partly so Nicholas St. John could get an advance to write the first draft of King of New York (1990), though St. John had no part in writing The Gladiator. Ferrara also humorously stated that the film was partly a means to get away from winter in New York for a few weeks and smash a lot of cars and it should be said that although the majority of the film is quite somber tonally speaking, the action scenes involving Rick taking out reckless drivers do have a nice energy to them and the scenes of Rick suping up his truck and the truck itself is a gloriously 80's creation as is the final showdown between Rick and the “Death Car” driver in a junkyard. All things considered, The Gladiator has had a pretty remarkable shelf life. Originally airing on ABC on February 3, 1986, the film was eventually broadcast overseas and unlike several Ferrara films, has had several DVD releases. Obviously being a made-for-TV film puts it in a fairly low-key category compared to other Ferrara features but The Gladiator has much to offer and plenty of Ferrara's personal touches making the end product seem much more than an excuse to spend a few weeks in LA.