Jacob’s Ladder (1990) – A nightmarish final struggle (1990 movie & screenplay):

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

A nightmarish final struggle

 

Jacob’s Ladder (1990), directed by Adrian Lyne, released in the United States on November 2, 1990, and based on the screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, is a rarity of the genre: an intelligent horror story.

Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is a traumatized Vietnam veteran.

He works for the Post Office, and shares a cramped apartment with his girlfriend and co-worker, Jezebel (Elizabeth Peña), in a dilapidated block in Brooklyn, New York, during the 1970s.

Suffering from PTSD, Jacob is haunted by flashbacks from his time in the war, his pain compounded by the grief of losing his son in an accident.

His waking hours are invaded by bizarre and terrifying hallucinations of a locked underground subway station, and demons that stalk him wherever he goes.

He has disorientating periods when he awakes to find himself in an alternate reality where he is still married to his wife, Sarah (Patricia Kalember).

In these sections, his son Gabe (Macaulay Culkin) is still alive.

Jacob attempts to discover the truth about his condition and uncovers a conspiracy involving a failed drug experiment.

The title: Jacob’s Ladder, is a Biblical reference, from Genesis 28:10-21, in which a spiritual staircase, flanked by angels, provides a bridge between Heaven and Earth.

In the latter part of the movie, the chemist, Michael Newman (Matt Craven), describes the enhanced drug as: The Ladder.

Afflicted with back pain, Jacob visits his Chiropractor, Louis (Danny Aiello).

Louis is also his friend and confidante.

When Jacob confides his hallucinations, Louis offers solace and reassurance by quoting the 14th-century German theologian and philosopher, Meister Eckhart:

LOUIS:

Eckhart saw Hell, too. You know what he said? He said: ‘The only thing that burns in Hell, is the part of you that won't let go of your life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you,’ he said. ‘They're freeing your soul’ … So, the way he sees it: ‘if you're frightened of dying and – and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But, if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.’ It’s just a matter of how you look at it, that’s all.

Bruce Joel Rubin’s screenplay, available in paperback, is an essential read for anyone who appreciates the movie.

It provides a wealth of insight and background information on the development of the story, including the inspiration and meaning behind some of the movie’s most stunning and disturbing images, particularly the visions of the “vibrating” men Jacob glimpses.

The book includes deleted scenes, with reasons why they didn’t make the final cut of the movie.

The acting is understated and flawless.

The strong supporting cast includes excellent character actors: Jason Alexander, John Capodice, Matt Craven, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Eriq La Salle, Ving Rhames, Brian Tarantina, Anthony Alessandro, Brent Hinkley, S. Epatha Merkerson, and John Patrick McLaughlin.

Adrian Lyne, like Ridley Scott, knows how to use light to powerful and atmospheric effect.

Maurice Jarre’s soundtrack sets a melancholic and haunting tone.

So many movies rely too heavily on the jump-shock moment to compensate for lack of plot, or character development.

Jacob’s Ladder doesn’t make that mistake.

The script and plot structure have been carefully thought out.

Jacob Singer is the main character, but in no way heroic.

We feel Jacob’s pain, bewilderment, and terror.

He fights when he has to, particularly in the scene where he is abducted from the street and forcibly strong-armed into the back of a car.

Jacob’s demeanor is, for the most part, quiet, friendly and affable, making his mounting fear and vulnerability more believable.

The quieter sections of the story are emotionally involving enough to make the moments of jarring horror nightmarish and chilling, with a final reveal that is both subtle and moving.

Jacob’s Ladder succeeds on many levels: as part war story, tragedy, drama, horror, mystery, hallucinatory nightmare, and theological thriller, giving the viewer much to think about and discuss.

It’s a disquieting and unforgettable experience that improves with repeat viewings, compelling the viewer to examine reality, existence, and the question of what comes after.

Life is fleeting.

Death is a certainty.

One day, we all have to climb that spiritual ladder.

Ascend … or descend?

Heaven … or Hell?

Which direction and destination will be yours?

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Recommended reading:

Jacob's Ladder

By Bruce Joel Rubin.

Published 2000.

Published by Applause Books.

ISBN-10: 155783086X

ISBN-13: 978-1557830869

Back cover description:

From the director of Fatal Attraction…

and the writer of Ghost…

Jacob’s Ladder.

Written by Bruce Joel Rubin.

An Adrian Lyne Film.

From Carolco Picture.

Produced by Alan Marshall.

Directed by Adrian Lyne.

With over 100 photographs from the film.

“… the screenplay moves from the nightmarish to the visionary … page for page, it is one of the very few screenplays I’ve read with the power to consistently raise hackles in broad daylight … Read it. It’s extraordinary.” – American Film.

“… one of the most original and powerful screenplays to be seen in Hollywood in years … One feels in the hands of a benevolent and sophisticated teller.” – Cinefantastique.

“… a humanistic thriller that hits like a thunderbolt.” – Fangoria.

The complete final shooting script in professional screenwriter’s format together with an annotated appendix of deleted scenes.

Jacob’s Chronicle, Bruce Joel Rubin’s book-length account of Jacob’s odyssey to the screen.

Applause screenplay series.

On this day in movie history - The Hot Spot (1990 movie & novel):

The Hot Spot

directed by Dennis Hopper,

written by Charles Williams and Nona Tyson,

based on the novel Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams,

was released in the United States on October 26, 1990.
Music by Jack Nitzsche.

Cast:

Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Connelly, Charles Martin Smith, William Sadler, Jerry Hardin, Barry Corbin, Leon Rippy, Jack Nance, Virgil Frye, John Hawker, Margaret Bowman, Debra Cole, Karen Culley, Cody Haynes, George Haynes, James N. Harrell, Edith Mills, Shannon Quinlan, Roosevelt Williams, Kirk Hunter, Mark Lawyer, Lynn Speier.

Recommended reading:

Hell Hath No Fury

By Charles Williams.

Filmed as The Hot Spot (1990), directed by Dennis Hopper.

Paperback.

First published 1953.

Published by Vintage.

ISBN 13: 9780679733294

ISBN 10: 0679733299

ASIN: 0679733299

Description:

A dark, brooding masterpiece of guilt, greed, and lust in a town ripe for felony.

Madox wasn't all bad.  He was just half-bad.  But trap a man like Madox in a dead-end job in a stultifying small town, introduce him to a femme fatale like the Harshaw woman, and give him a shot at a fast fifteen thousand dollars--in a bank just begging to be knocked over--and his better nature doesn't stand a chance.

Merciless in its suspense, flawless in its grasp of the ways in which ordinary people hurtle over the edge, The Hot Spot is a superb example of fifties roman noir.

Recommended reading – Get Shorty (1990):

Get Shorty

By Elmore Leonard.

First published 1990.

Published by Mariner Books.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062120255

ISBN-13: 978-0062120250

Description:

“The coolest, hottest writer in America.” – Chicago Tribune.

Mob-connected loan shark Chili Palmer is sick of the Miami grind – plus his “friends” have a bad habit of dying there. So when he chases a deadbeat client out to Hollywood, Chili figures he might like to stay. This town, with its dream-makers, glitter, hucksters, and liars – plus gorgeous, partially clad would-be starlets everywhere you look – seems ideal for an enterprising criminal with a taste for the cinematic. Besides, Chili’s got an idea for a killer movie, though it could very possibly kill him to get it made.

“The funniest crime thriller ever set among the hustlers and con artist of the movie colony.” – Wall Street Journal.

“A Hollywood hit…. Taut, inimitable prose and characters who could have only sprung from the mind of Elmore Leonard.”

– Detroit News.

“A terrific thriller…. The kind of entertainment that usually makes Hollywood types talk about selling their souls (or their mothers).” – Orlando Sentinel.

On this day in music history:

Anam by Clannad (1990)

Mozart Arias by Cecilia Bartoli (1991)

Bounce by Bon Jovi (2002)

Tempting Fate by Carolyn Wonderland (2021)

Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene by Renée Fleming & Yannick Nézet-Séguin (2021)

Anam

Album by Clannad,

released October 8, 1990.

Track list: Rí Na Cruinne (2003 Remaster); Anam (2003 Remaster); In Fortune’s Hand (2003 Remaster); Poison Glen (2003 Remaster); Wilderness (2003 Remaster); Why Worry? (2003 Remaster); Uirchill An Chreagain (2003 Remaster); Love And Affection (2003 Remaster); You’re The One (2003 Remaster); Dobhar (2003 Remaster); Rí Na Cruinne (Lazyboy Mix).

Mozart Arias

Album by Cecilia Bartoli,

released October 8, 1991.

Track list: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 1 - “Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio”; Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 2 - “Voi che sapete”; Mozart: Chi sà, chi sà, qual sia, K. 582; Mozart: Così fan tutte, K. 588 / Act 2 - “E amore un ladroncello”; Mozart: Alma grande e nobil core, K. 578; Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527 / Act 2 - “Vedrai, carino”; Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 4 - “Giunse alfin il momento... Deh, vieni, non tardar”; Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, K. 621 / Act 1 - “Parto, ma tu ben mio”; Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, K. 621 / Act 2 - “Deh per questo istante solo”; Mozart: La clemenza di Tito, K. 621 / Act 2 - “Ecco il punto, oh Vitellia” - “Non più di fiori”; Mozart: Ch’io mi scordi di te... Non temer, amato bene, K. 505.

Bounce

Album by Bon Jovi,

released October 8, 2002.

Track list: Undivided; Everyday; The Distance; Joey; Misunderstood; All About Lovin’ You; Hook Me Up; Right Side of Wrong; Love Me Back To Life; You Had Me From Hello; Bounce; Open All Night.

Tempting Fate

Album by Carolyn Wonderland,

released October 8, 2021.

Track list: Fragile Peace and Certain War; Texas Girl and Her Boots; Broken Hearted Blues; Fortunate Few; Crack in the Wall; The Laws Must Change; Honey Bee; On My Feet Again; It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry; Loser.

Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene

Album by Renée Fleming & Yannick Nézet-Séguin,

released October 8, 2021.

Track list: Evening; No. 1, Prison; No.9, Les Etoile; No.5, L’heure Exquise; No.2, en Sourdine; Reve D’amour, Op. 5 No.2; S’il Est Un Charmant Garson; Endless Space; No.1, Les Berceaux; No.1, Au Bord de L’eau; L’enamouree; Ober Allen Gipfein Ist Ruh, S. 306; No.3, Lauf Der Welt; No.5, Zur Rosenzeit; No.6, Ein Traum; Aurora Borealis.

On this day in movie history - King of New York (1990):

King of New York

directed by Abel Ferrara,

written by Nicholas St. John,

was released in the United States on September 22, 1990.
Music by Joe Delia.

Cast:

Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Larry Fishburne, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes, Janet Julian, Paul Calderón, Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito, Theresa Randle, Carrie Nygren, Frank Adonis, Gerard Murphy, Harold Perrineau, Leonard L. Thomas, Gary Landon Mills, Robert LaSardo, Lance Guecia, Frankie Cee, Ernest Abuba, Freddy Howard, Frank Gio, Joey Chin, Lia Chang, Michael Guess, James Lorinz, Alonna Shaw, Nancy Hunter, Jay Julien, Roger Guenveur Smith, Vanessa Angel, Phoebe Legere, Erica Gimpel, Frank Aquilina, David Proval, Carlos Lauchu, Dhonna Harris Goodale.

On this day in movie history - Miller’s Crossing (1990):

Miller’s Crossing

directed and written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen,

was released in the United States on September 22, 1990.

Music by Carter Burwell.

Cast:

Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden, Jon Polito, J. E. Freeman, Steve Buscemi, John McConnell, Mike Starr, Al Mancini, Olek Krupa, Frances McDormand.

On this day in movie history - Narrow Margin (1990):

Narrow Margin

directed and written by Peter Hyams,

based on a story by Martin Goldsmith and Jack Leonard,

was released in the United States on September 21, 1990.
Music by Bruce Broughton.

Cast:

Gene Hackman, Anne Archer, James Sikking, J.T. Walsh, M. Emmet Walsh, Susan Hogan, Nigel Bennett, J.A. Preston, B.A. 'Smitty' Smith, Codie Lucas Wilbee, Barbara Russell, Antony Holland, Doreen Ramos, Kevin McNulty, Andrew Rhodes, Lon Katzman, Dana Still, Lesley Ewen, Barney O'Sullivan, Natino Bellantoni, Ted Stidder, Lindsay Bourne, Robert Rozen, Tom McBeath, Ron Cummins, Harris Yulin, Jennifer Fahrni, John Michael Quinn.