Alcohol and the confines of a small town only exacerbate these tendencies. Within a small town there is class consciousness, racism, all that stuff goes on. Out of boredom we'd drink. Nolte loves the film and thinks Affliction will have a long shelf life on video. In his second film, The Thin Red Line , he plays a man who unleashes his violence on others, set against the backdrop of World War Two.
War just rationalises violence.
Two thousand years ago we needed that violent instinct to survive in a hostile world. Now we live in what we call a civilised society and yet all the instincts are still there. That's the real place that wars and rage come from. Nolte doesn't see himself as a box office draw. He maintains he is much more of a character lead than a star.