I can’t remember why I missed seeing ‘Bringing Out the Dead‘ (1999). I’ve been a fan of Martin Scorsese since ‘Taxi Driver’ and I thought I hadn’t missed any of his movies since then. And yet, it’s the first time I’ve seen ‘Bringing Out the Dead‘ now. Maybe it was just too busy a time for me, or maybe the film wasn’t released in the country I live in after one of Martin Scorsese‘s few commercial failures. But maybe it’s better that way, as I’ve now had the opportunity to see the film from the perspective of a quarter of a century since its production and release, and see how well it sits in Scorsese’s filmography. This was Scorsese‘s fourth collaboration with Paul Schrader and a return to the streets of New York, Scorsese‘s hometown, the two’s first together since ‘Taxi Driver’. It is a psychological drama with action elements, but a little different than other action films that take place on the streets of New York at night, and a little different from other Scorsese films. I think the producers had trouble positioning and building the marketing for this movie. But time seems to have put him back in the place he deserved.
The main hero of the film is Fred Pierce, an ambulance paramedic in the Manhattan emergency service. The voice-over commentary mentions – in what could be a quote from the book by Joe Connelly, a former worker in such a service, which inspired the script – that only in 10% of cases the interventions save the lives of those in danger. Fred hasn’t saved anyone in months. He is haunted by the ghosts of those he could not save, and in particular by that of a young woman named Rose. He is exhausted physically and especially mentally. Every night he encounters the same kind of cases and sometimes the same people: victims of violent crimes, serial suicides, people under the influence of older or newer drugs. One night, he saves an elderly man who returns from clinical death, resuscitated but with impaired brain functions. Fred meets his daughter and through her a part of the world of drug dealers. It is an opportunity for introspection and perhaps self-rescue. Would our hero find the motivation to continue to work in such a destructive job and a meaning not only for the profession but for life in general?
Scorsese relishes filming in the environment he knows best and loves – the streets of New York. The city is not only a background, it is also a character in the film, it is the container of all the happenings and sufferings. The director also introduces us behind the scenes of the emergency service and in the world of hospitals where suffering from all categories is encountered: sick, drug addicts, victims of street and city violence. The role in this film is considered one of the best of Nicolas Cage‘s career (including by himself), excellent for bringing to the screen the dilemmas and sufferings of the man haunted by the images of the dead and by his own failures to save them. Patricia Arquette is his partner and adds her personal hell to the traumas of the film’s heroes. Will the two find support in each other? The music is composed and chosen by Elmer Bernstein, also known as Bernstein-West to differentiate him from (Leonard) Bernstein-East, to whom he was not related. Same as in many of Scorsese‘s films, even in the non-musical ones, the soundtrack is superb, with a fine combination of classic rock and jazz. Acting, atmosphere, the intensity of the feelings and the merciless perspective of the ‘mean streets’ created by Scorsese fully justifies the interest in watching ‘Bringing Out the Dead‘ even at its age of 25.