The scenes involving Vanessa Redgrave as the amorous nun are equally haunting, and the torture scenes with Michael Gothard as an exorcist trying to force a confession out of Reed are truly painful to watch. The burning at the end is the most unforgettable of all, with Oliver Reed literally blackening and bubbling in front of your very eyes as he burns away. There are some extraordinary moments in this film. The authorities decide that he is a risk to their plans, and have him falsely accused of various disgusting sexual crimes for which he is burned at the stake. He is a magnetic man with strong opinions and pride, lusted after by many women, including a disfigured nun. The story is of a highly influential priest in the French city of Loudon. It is Ken Russell's most tolerable film to sit through, because it is always interesting and contains many memorables scenes and images, but at the same time it is highly controversial and challenging, often making you want to turn away from the screen. For some, it's a horrific and unwatchable display of savagery, while for others it's an intense yet rewarding ride into a city beseiged with madness. There are things more valuable than life.After seeing The Devils, one thing is for sure: it will stay with you forever. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good.
He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city. They are no longer together.ĭuring Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.īrite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana.īorn a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. It is a novel for those who dare trespass where the sacred and profane become one. Exquisite Corpse confirms Brite as a writer who defies categorization. Brite dissects the landscape of torture and invites us into the mind of a killer. Ultimately all four characters converge on a singular bloody night after which their lives will be irrevocably changed - or terminated. Luke Ransom, Tran's ex-lover, who is dying of AIDS and who intends to wreak ultimate havoc before leaving this world, Exquisite Corpse unfolds into a labyrinth of murder and love. Swiftly moving from the grimy streets of London's Piccadilly Circus to the decadence of the New Orleans French Quarter, and punctuated by rants from radio talk show host Lush Rimbaud, a.k.a. Together, Compton and Byrne set their sights on an exquisite young Vietnamese-American runaway, Tran, whom they deem to be the perfect victim. Tortured by his own perverse desires, and drawn to possess and destroy young boys, Compton inadvertently joins forces with Jay Byrne, a dissolute playboy who has pushed his "art" to limits even Compton hadn't previously imagined. After feigning his own death to escape from prison, Compton makes his way to the United States with the sole ambition of bringing his "art" to new heights.
To serial slayer Andrew Compton, murder is an art, the most intimate art.