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Light Sleeper
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| Light Sleeper | |
|---|---|
![]() Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul Schrader |
| Written by | Paul Schrader |
| Produced by | Linda Reisman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Edward Lachman |
| Edited by | Kristina Boden |
| Music by | Michael Been |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Fine Line Features |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million[1] |
| Box office | $1,055,987[1] |
Light Sleeper is a 1992 American crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and starring Willem Dafoe, Susan Sarandon, and Dana Delany. Set in New York City during a sanitation strike, the gritty neo-noir film stars Dafoe as a high-class drug dealer battling a midlife crisis before becoming embroiled in tragic events following the chance encounter with a former girlfriend.[2] While under-performing at the box office, the film was regarded favorably by critics.[3]
Plot
[edit]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, 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 to Tis's hotel but, when it becomes clear that a confrontation with Tis cannot be avoided, LeTour tells her to wait for him downstairs. Ann leaves, but raises an alarm in the outer hallway, distracting Tis's henchmen and allowing John to take the initiative. LeTour kills Tis and both of his henchmen in the subsequent shootout, and is superficially 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
[edit]- Willem Dafoe as John LeTour
- Susan Sarandon as Ann
- Dana Delany as Marianne Jost
- David Clennon as Robert
- Mary Beth Hurt as Teresa Aranow
- Victor Garber as Tis Brüg
- Jane Adams as Randi Jost
- Robert Cicchini as Bill Guidone
- Sam Rockwell as Jealous
- David Spade as Theological Cokehead
Background
[edit]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. In this film his character is dealing with anxiety over his life and the external forces that threaten it.[4] Light Sleeper also shares with American Gigolo an ending reminiscent of Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, in which the imprisoned hero is shown contemplating a new and hopefully better existence.[5]
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.[6] Light Sleeper was the first artistic collaboration of Willem Dafoe 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 (2002), The Walker (2007), Adam Resurrected (2008), Dog Eat Dog (2016) and The Card Counter (2021).
Schrader had originally intended to use songs from Bob Dylan's album Empire Burlesque, but Schrader and Dylan could not agree on which songs to use and Schrader decided to use songs by Michael Been instead.[7]
Light Sleeper premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1992 and was released in the US on August 21 that same year, earning $1 million at the box office.[8] It gained mostly positive reviews and received various nominations, including the Independent Spirit Award. Willem Dafoe was awarded the Sant Jordi Award as best actor. In a telegram, German filmmaker Wim Wenders congratulated Schrader, stating that his direction was in a league with that of Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu, who both Wenders and Schrader admire.[6] In a 2005 interview, Schrader called Light Sleeper his most personal film.[9]
Reception
[edit]Light Sleeper received positive reviews from critics. It holds an 87% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 45 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."[3] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10]
Film critic Roger Ebert 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”.[2]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly 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”.[11]
Writing for Time Out Film Guide, Geoff Andrew 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”.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Light Sleeper". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ a b Ebert, Roger (4 September 1992). "Light Sleeper Movie Review & Film Summary (1992)". www.rogerebert.com.
- ^ a b "Light Sleeper". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ Kevin Jackson, Schrader on Schrader, Faber & Faber, London 1990.
- ^ "A Man Apart: Close-Up on Paul Schrader's "Light Sleeper"". MUBI (in French). 2018-06-19. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
- ^ a b Macaulay, Scott. "Interview with Paul Schrader". Filmmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012.
- ^ Audio commentary by Paul Schrader on the Light Sleeper DVD.
- ^ Light Sleeper at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Simon, Alex (November 2005). "PAUL SCHRADER: DOMINION OF THE DARK". Venice Magazine.
- ^ Light Sleeper Reviews, Metacritic, retrieved 2022-03-20
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (28 August 1992). "Light Sleeper". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Time Out Film Guide, Seventh Edition 1999, Penguin Books, London, 1998.
External links
[edit]Light Sleeper
View on GrokipediaPlot and Characters
Plot Summary
John LeTour, a 40-year-old drug courier in New York City, navigates his daily routine amid a sanitation strike that leaves streets littered with garbage, mirroring his internal stagnation. Having been clean from substances for a decade, John continues delivering high-end drugs—such as cocaine, Valium, and ludes—to affluent clients while working for his boss and close friend Ann, who announces plans to shutter their operation and launch a legitimate cosmetics and spa business. John's insomnia keeps him awake at night, prompting him to maintain a detailed journal where he records fragmented dreams and reflections on providence, grace, and his aimless existence. His pseudo-family dynamic with Ann and her partner Robert provides fleeting stability, but Robert's decision to pursue independent dealing signals the unraveling of their world. As Ann pushes toward legitimacy, John grapples with his own desire to quit the trade, feeling increasingly adrift in a life he never intended.[3][4] John's routine deliveries expose him to the destructive underbelly of his profession, including a tense confrontation with a strung-out client named Eddie, whom he kicks in frustration, causing Eddie to fall and suffer a fatal head injury in what proves to be an accidental death. This incident draws the attention of Detective Guidone, who launches an investigation and pressures John for information on his suppliers and clients. Compounding John's turmoil, he serendipitously reunites with his ex-girlfriend Marianne at a hotel during her business trip; sober for years, she initially rebuffs his advances but warms to him as he expresses remorse for their past and his intent to change. Their reconciliation deepens when John visits her, but tragedy strikes when Marianne, having relapsed after obtaining drugs from John's client—the powerful lawyer and gangster Tis—commits suicide by jumping from a balcony. Devastated, John attends Marianne's mother's funeral, briefly connecting with her sister Randi amid family tensions, further highlighting his isolation. A visit to his psychic friend Teresa heightens his anxiety, as she foresees a "death aura" enveloping him. Meanwhile, a young woman dies of an overdose on drugs from Ann's supply, intensifying his guilt over the human cost of his work.[3][5][4] Facing mounting pressure from the police and his crumbling personal life, John resolves to exit the drug trade entirely, confiding in Ann about his fears and aspirations for redemption. To shield himself from prosecution in Eddie's death and the overdose, he agrees to inform on Tis, whom Guidone suspects of murdering his own wife in a fit of jealousy over her infidelity. This leads to a climactic confrontation at Tis's opulent apartment, where John, armed and resolute, shoots Tis in self-defense after a violent struggle, effectively dismantling the remnants of his old life. Arrested and facing 5 to 7 years in prison for drug dealing and manslaughter, John shares a tender, optimistic moment with Ann in the detention center, expressing that he has been "looking forward" to this turning point. In voice-over, he reflects on sealing his fate with a sense of newfound agency and grace, marking the end of his passive existence.[3][5]Cast
The principal cast of Light Sleeper features Willem Dafoe in the leading role of John LeTour, a weary and introspective drug courier navigating personal turmoil. Susan Sarandon portrays Ann, the pragmatic and ambitious head of the drug operation, who is shifting her business focus. Dana Delany plays Marianne, John's vulnerable ex-partner grappling with her own recovery.[6] Supporting the ensemble are Victor Garber as Tis, a powerful client and gangster; Mary Beth Hurt as Teresa, a psychic client seeking guidance; David Clennon as Robert, Ann's partner; and Jane Adams as Randi, Marianne's sister who provides familial support.[7][6]| Actor | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Willem Dafoe | John LeTour | Introspective drug courier |
| Susan Sarandon | Ann | Pragmatic drug supplier boss |
| Dana Delany | Marianne | Vulnerable ex-partner |
| Victor Garber | Tis | Powerful client and gangster |
| Mary Beth Hurt | Teresa | Psychic client |
| David Clennon | Robert | Ann's partner |
| Jane Adams | Randi | Marianne's sister |

