A Certain Sacrifice
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| A Certain Sacrifice | |
|---|---|
 Front cover of the VHS film (swedish version) |
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| Directed by | Stephen Jon Lewicki |
| Written by | Stephen Jon Lewicki Jeremy Pattnosh Robert Manganaro Morris |
| Starring | Madonna Jeremy Pattnosh Charles Kurtz |
| Music by | Jeremy Pattnosh |
| Distributed by | Cine Cine Productions |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
A Certain Sacrifice is the singer Madonna's first movie, made in September 1979, written and directed by Stephen Jon Lewicki. Madonna starred with Jeremy Pattnosh and Charles Kurtz.
The movie itself is an "oddball" indie, shot on-and-off over two years for a paltry sum of $20,000 (with virtually all of the actors in the film unpaid) in New York City. Madonna played the part of Bruna, a Lower East Side resident who lives with three "love slaves" (one male, one female, one transgender). Bruna meets Dashiell (Pattnosh) in the water fountain in Washington Square Park and the two "fall in love". Bruna tells her lovers she doesn't need them anymore. They attack her sexually (this scene caused controversy since Madonna is topless). Later, Bruna is raped by Raymond Hall (by Kurtz) in a bathroom at a coffee shop. To exact retribution, Bruna enlists her love slaves and Dashiell to abduct the rapist. They dress up as hookers and lure him into a limo. They lead him to a theatre where a Satanic sacrifice is performed. Dashiell laters wipes Raymond's blood all over Bruna.
In 1985, A Certain Sacrifice was released on video to capitalize on Madonna's fame. Madonna tried to buy the rights from director Stephen Jon Lewicki for $5,000 unsuccessfully. Madonna, then tried to ban the film from being seen. Stephen Lewicki invited her to view it and at the conclusion of the screening session Madonna reportedly was not happy with the result.
Despite Madonna's second thoughts about having participated in this movie, Lewicki had nothing but compliments for her. One of his oft-repeated stories was how he "discovered" Madonna and was amazed that she hand-wrote a three-page letter for a part that didn't even pay. She was only paid $100. To author Christopher Andersen, who wrote the 1991 biography "Madonna Unauthorized", Lewicki said: "That woman has more sensuality in her ear than most women have anywhere on their bodies."
Actor Jeremy Pattnosh wrote and performed several songs in the film including:
Certain Sacrifice (Raymond Hall Must Die Tonight) & Screamin' Demon Lover
Madonna was filmed by Stephen Lewicki singing a snippet of "Let The Sunshine In" from the musical " Hair".
