“The Addiction” is Abel Ferrara’s 1995 film starring Lili Taylor as Kathy, Christopher Walken as Peina, Annabella Sciorra as Casanova, Edie Falco as Jean and Fredro Starr as Black.
In short, the film brilliantly combines the concepts of vampirism and philosophy amid the backdrop of New York City.
Uniquely, Ferrara chose to shoot this film in black-and-white, which truly gives the picture an authentic feel- the blood looks black, the trees look grey. Combine the gritty streets of New York and some classic hip-hop to the mix, and you’ve got an anything-but-glamorous depiction of an ancient primal urge dressed in modern-day intellectual consumerism.
SPOILERS!
The film opens with academics Kathy and Jean discussing war crimes. Kathy feels that war crimes should not be blamed on one man just to make the whole world feel justified, while Jean points out that someone had to be the scapegoat in order for the world to cleanse their guilt. Immediately afterwards, Kathy is bitten by a woman vampire named Casanova. She goes to the cops, who tell her, “You’re lucky she didn’t cut your throat.” This is ironic, as we see eventually that Kathy’s whole viewpoint on philosophy changes after she becomes a vampire (cutting her throat = off with her head = intellectual importance disintegrating).
In class, Kathy struggles to concentrate as the aftermath of being bitten takes over, while her professor says, “Guilt is a sign that God is working out your destiny — “
We then journey with Kathy through the underbelly of her new addiction.
***
So what message was Ferrara trying to send with this film? Well, as Kathy says in the restaurant, “We’ll get to the thesis in due time.”
As a vampire Kathy is now similar to those who’ve been outside “The Matrix”- she is repulsed by people eating and reading philosophy at the same time. She has no need for food- she sees with new eyes. She suddenly understands “one-half of the truth” of her true nature. (Since she is technically dead but is walking among the living, she hasn’t completely crossed over to the nothingness of death without consciousness). Her ego has collapsed; she’s no longer hiding behind it. She is not a sheep now, but a hunter.
Kathy points out that everything in history is within us, similar to the ideas of Gnosis, but asks why humans cannot stop trying to fix what can’t be undone in the world if this is true- i.e., the holocausts, massacres and unjust actions of the majority. Referencing the scene where Kathy talks with the girl from the library after having bitten her, notice that the audience sees the girl talking through the mirror’s reflection, while we see Kathy as she is. This echoes perhaps that Kathy is the Jungian archetype of Shadow, while the girl is the undeveloped soul- seeing only her reflection. We see this in the film further when Kathy drags Jean to the bathroom, asking her, “What are you afraid of?” In our world, it’s easier to label such archetypes as good/evil, when really all humans contain this duality, but simply repress what is considered “evil.”
Kathy feels justified in drawing blood because it’s her will to do so. Like Casanova, she tells her victims to sincerely ask her to go away, but the only one to successfully deny her is the bible-pamphlet guy who doesn’t aggressively fight back. Moreover, all of her victims succumb to her because they either knew her previously or saw her as a sexual object- hence, when we descend into the Shadow, we are putting on full display a completely different version of our “self.” But because so many repress their Shadow psyche, it’s difficult to recognize the face of it on someone whom we’ve known previously. Even Jean sees the physical changes in Kathy but doesn’t comprehend her new mindset. While the bible-guy could have represented the idea of the”good” in Christ vs. the “bad” in vampires, I felt he also represented perhaps a sincere depiction of someone in the Light- meaning, he rejects Kathy despite not knowing her true motives, whereas other men on the street foolishly go to her because they think she wants drugs or sex- other addictions.
Despite her new insight, Kathy doesn’t initially comprehend that she’s just as divided internally as she was before she was bitten. In her new carnal skin, Kathy feels better than everyone because she knows what she wants and is going after it- the desire of the body for blood. She feels more alive now because she has something to live for, something to seek, whereas before she was feeding the needs of the mind- which of course were left unsatisfied. When she gets a fix, she knows she’ll be satisfied until she needs another. Still, she tries to philosophize this seemingly freeing addiction, as if this new skin, by allowing her to taste evil, has somehow revealed to her all the answers about the meaning of life. In reality, the needs of the body and the needs of the mind are not superior to one another; both are still missing an element of spirituality which forces the self to look inside vs. outside for the answers. Despite the symbolic progress Kathy has made in crossing over to the Shadow (in the film portrayed through vampirism), she still needs to reemerge in another skin- only then will she be a step closer to her soul’s “true knowledge.”
This is further exemplified when Kathy meets Peina (played greatly by Walken). Notice that when she meets him, he’s talking to himself- or rather, to his other “self”- his moral, spiritual half. He instantly knows she wants to be someplace dark (with someone else in the Shadow), because he’s been in her shoes. He understands how this initial rush of power gives someone a superiority complex. He tells Kathy her breath smells like shit, although technically he doesn’t smell her breath- just by sniffing her aura he can smell her polluted soul.
Through his seemingly coded vernacular, he describes the true cycle of addiction. He seems to use children as a metaphor when he says the first fix is a “harness”- i.e., the first time Kathy took blood from a homeless junkie was to gain her strength back, as she was weak from being bitten. “After that, you’re like all the rest”; i.e., after the first fix which you really need to survive, all other fixes are taken not out of necessity but want- “They fall like flies before the hunger.” He also tells her that the last time he got a fix, he “had a dozen in one night.” This reflects perhaps why Kathy went all out in the ravenous orgy scene that follows, where she literally overdoses on blood.
Peina goes on to say, “Man has striven to exist beyond good and evil. You know what they found? Me.” With a bowl of fruit in his hand, one can’t help but mirror Peina with the serpent of the Bible’s Genesis, i.e., who the Gnostics consider the giver of true knowledge. In simple terms, Peina seems to be saying what so many philosophers have speculated upon: That both good and evil are within man, and there cannot be good without evil, nor evil without good. Peina, pronounced “Pain-a,” could therefore represent the serpent archetype who’s been around since the beginning of time. Compared to the average man, he’s far more advanced- He’s read all the books, seen all there is to see. And yet, we wouldn’t call him dead because he still has consciousness- or rather, a conscience. While Kathy has been taking and taking from others freely, Peina openly tells her that he’s going to take from her, just as Casanova did- he’s going to drink her blood and remind her what it feels like to be the prey. He treats blood as humans treat food and sex- washing his mouth out and taking a shower afterwards. Peina is showing her that she’s not above anybody or anyone; she is just as much a part of the cycle of “life” as anyone else. Because Kathy must live for eternity in hell (in a body), she is not exempt from pain.
Another telling scene is when the priest is walking down the corridor in black, while Casanova, also in black, passes him on the opposite side. The priest then shakes the hand of a doctor (in white). Light/Shadow, White/Black, Science/Religion — Take what you will from this scene.
In the conclusion, we see Kathy’s gravesite. This suggests that she did die in the hospital, as the priest was reading her last rites, and the Kathy we see is actually a ghost- or rather, is Kathy as who she really is. Or, perhaps this was simply metaphorical, as Kathy technically cannot die being a vampire. Either way, notice that Kathy “died” when she was 27.
What I loved most about this film, besides being a unique “vampire movie,” was Ferrara’s method in using vampirism as a metaphor for the soul. Some believe not just in reincarnation, but in the progress of an individual’s soul. When we’re reborn, our soul either progresses to a higher state of being (which some call Gnosis) or remains stagnant. Humans sin because we’re imperfect, but that doesn’t necessarily mean perfection cannot be attained. Using this format, one could assume it would take several lifetimes in order to truly reach, let alone recognize this state of attainable perfection. Because vampires technically cannot die, they essentially have more years than the typical human- hence, their soul’s evolution is underway just like everyone else’s, except they maintain physical form throughout this course. This was portrayed excellently through Peina’s character, as mentioned previously. Moreover, the film authentically addresses philosophy in darker shades than one might grasp from simply reading it in a book- Hence, we try to read between the lines when we read philosophy, but perhaps this is a mistake, as these experiences of seemingly otherworldly and mythical origins, are very much rooted in reality.
“To face what we are in the end, we stand before the light and our true nature is revealed. Self-revelation is annihilation of self.”