Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) is a local cop in a small New Hampshire town who is prone to drowning his emotional problems in alcohol. While attempting to reconcile his traumatic childhood with an angry and volatile father (James Coburn), he begins to suspect that a local hunting accident may not have been an accident after all. His obsession with finding the truth behind the death begins to take its toll on the relationships in his life like with his girlfriend Margie (Sissy Spacek) and his brother Rolfe (Willem Dafoe). As the cold wind and snow creeps through the town bathing it in a white blanket of obfuscation, Wade’s investigation and his attempts at dealing with his father may drive him to a place he can’t come back from.

I had watched this over 25 years ago when it first came out, and I have a vague memory of liking it but little else. Revisiting it at a very different place in my life with very different expectations for a Paul Schrader mood piece, Affliction has improved dramatically in my admiration for the film. Like many of Schrader’s films, the dense, complex script makes for an excellent actor’s showcase. Nolte in the lead role more than rises to the occasion, delivering what might be his best performance. James Coburn as his father also shines, showing a depth of emotion beneath a hard surface that Coburn rarely has shown in other films (a performance that won Coburn the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor that year). Sissy Spacek as Wade’s girlfriend who has to watch as Wade’s father slowly destroys him inside also puts in a very good performance. Dafoe is really the odd man out, given more of a perfunctory voice over narrator role that doesn’t allow him to show much of the range we all know him to be capable of. The structure and framing of the film itself is also excellent with the weather growing colder and more claustrophobic as Wade unravels. I could see the denouement of this film being frustrating to some who come into this film thinking it will be more of a traditional winter weather thriller like Fargo (which I remember many people trying to compare it to unfairly at the time). But Affliction is nothing like Fargo. The title should give it away. This is not a mystery that we hope to see solved. This is about a broken man who knows he is broken but who is unable to piece himself back together. This is not a happy story. It never pretends to be. Paul Schrader has delivered a finely tuned film of nuance and pathos that paints a subtle portrait of how the sins of the past can come back to haunt us.

The transfer for this Shout Select blu-ray is a decent effort but I observed numerous scratches and marks on the image throughout the film that could’ve been cleaned up with a little extra care. Although given that here in the US, the only previous physical release I’m aware of was a non-anamorphic DVD from the early days of the format, I would think if you are a fan of the film, the upgrade is appreciated regardless. For audio, we have both a 5.1 and 2.0 track. Honestly though, I didn’t notice a great deal of difference between the two. This is a very dialogue-driven film that isn’t going to tax the surround sound speakers much. For extras, we get a big ol’ goose egg. Absolutely nothing. Not even a trailer. This felt like a real missed opportunity. While I understand that some of the key actors involved have passed away now, I would have loved to at least gotten Paul Schrader’s thoughts on the film and what he wanted to accomplish with it.

While this Shout Select blu-ray is clearly more of a budget release with a less than sterling transfer and no extras, the film itself is a powerful and intense depiction of a life spiraling out of control. Given that this is probably the best release we will get of this excellent film any time soon, I would say it’s still worth picking up just to experience this cold, dark journey into a broken soul.