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Dahmer (2002)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
13 March 2003 (Sweden) moreTagline:
The mind is a place of its own.Plot:
Based on the true crime story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, this movie tells the emotionally riveting story of a man who turned his darkest fantasies into a horrifying reality. | add synopsisPlot Keywords:
moreAwards:
3 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(3 articles)
HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 2 Signed ‘The Hurt Locker’ Posters With Star Jeremy Renner (From HollywoodChicago.com. 7 July 2009, 12:53 PM, PDT)
TV Review: ABC’s Quirky ‘The Unusuals’ Off to Promising Start
(From HollywoodChicago.com. 8 April 2009, 10:15 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Image as Narrative moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Jeremy Renner | ... | Jeffrey Dahmer | |
| Bruce Davison | ... | Lionel Dahmer | |
| Artel Great | ... | Rodney (as Artel Kayàru) | |
| Matt Newton | ... | Lance Bell | |
| Dion Basco | ... | Khamtay | |
| Kate Williamson | ... | Grandma | |
| Christina Payano | ... | Letitia | |
| Tom'ya Bowden | ... | Shawna | |
| Sean Blakemore | ... | Corliss | |
| Mickey Swenson | ... | Officer Phillips | |
| Julius Branca | ... | Officer Powell | |
| Pierson Blaetz | ... | Officer Martin | |
| Vincent Zangari | ... | Ohio Officer | |
| Xavier Lawrence | ... | Young Man in Bar | |
| David Manis | ... | Shop Steward |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for aberrant violence, sexuality, language and some drug use.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
101 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorSound Mix:
Dolby DigitalCertification:
Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:R | Canada:18A | Germany:18 | Norway:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #38948)Fun Stuff
Goofs:
Factual errors: The uniforms for the Milwaukee Police officers are incorrect. The badges and cap shields are L.A. style and the officers are wearing shoulder patches on both shoulders. Milwaukee officers wear a patch only on the left shoulder. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Title Card: On February 15, 1992 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was convicted of 15 counts of murder and sentenced to 937 years of federal prison. The following story was inspired by events from his life. Certain characters and events are fictional.
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"Dahmer" is, by and far, one of the best films I have ever seen.
Like it or not, the famous and infamous are inevitably mythologized. They become ciphers for the human dilemmas and attributes which compel them to commit the acts that grant them their notoriety. Serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer are no exception. For better or for ill, they take their place in the pantheon of popular culture.
How, then, to handle this? It is easy to turn a figure like Dahmer into a devil, a monster who embodies the most violent and irrational of human impulses. This, sadly, is far from productive or enlightening. It says nothing of the human condition besides the depths to which it can sink. Do we really need another film to learn this? The capacity for human evil is made more than apparent by the atrocities one encounters when reading a history book.
The makers of this film attempted something different. Dahmer becomes a sort of avatar of human loneliness, of alienation and the terrible force of sexual frustration and the wrath it inspires. We are shown a lonely man who craves the affection of others but is incapable of attaining it in the normal fashion. The Dahmer of this film employs drugs and violence to subdue those he desires and transform them into living dolls. The viewer gets the sense that, as he cuddles with the comatose body of his victim, he wants nothing more than a body beside his own as he struggles through his nightmarish sleep. Renner, the actor who portrays Dahmer in this film, says more by the contented look on his face as he holds his victims than any philosopher has ever written about the nature of the relation of Self to Other.
The acting is superb in this film. The soundtrack, especially its use of Siren's haunting "Blue Theme," does wonders to capture the type of loneliness which the makers of this film have used Dahmer to symbolize.
Most impressive, perhaps, is the use of image as narrative. There are far too many examples to cite, of course. However, one stands out clearly in my mind. Flashing back to Jeffrey's younger days, he is shown attending a party he holds at his own home. Wandering about alone, he happens upon a couple engaged in amorous play. After watching for a few moments, he leaves the home and commends himself to the night.
Unable to touch the Other, we inevitably delve deeper into the Self. "Dahmer" shows us what happens when such a descent brings us into darkness.
God help us when we finally glimpse the soul and come to the realization that it is not spirit, but an abyss.