Welcome to New York
George Devereaux, a prominent French politician, lives a life of debauchery, until he is arrested in New York for sexually assaulting a hotel maid.
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- Cast:
- Gérard Depardieu , Jacqueline Bisset , Shanyn Leigh , Marie Mouté , Ronald Guttman , Elizabeth Kemp , Drena De Niro
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Reviews
Sorry, this movie sucks
Just what I expected
Good start, but then it gets ruined
I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.
This film tells a great tale about a man who has an insatiable sexual appetite that can never be quenched, even in the throes of big trouble with the law. Ultimately, power, money and standing all go a long ways into how people are handled within our court system.If you have riches, you can escape the most inescapable criminal acts. If you're poor, forget it. Our system is badly broken and filled with corruption.Lady Justice is blind on both sides...innocent and guilty alike. The courts have a hard time getting it right...money just adds to the problem.Gerard Depardieu had a lot of guts taking on this roll and did a fantastic job of expressing his emotion through his eyes. He occasionally stares into the camera, giving the viewer a deeper view into his manic behavior.A special nod to Jacqueline Bisset for her terrific role as the enabling wife. She seemed more like a mother than a wife to Depardieu, protecting him to protect herself.A very highly recommended film.Oh, by the way....the most telling of the "Guilty before innocent" sentiment in the USA was the treatment of the perp based alone on an accusation. "You don't like the cuffs? Too bad asshole." Is a sad commentary on the attitudes of our law enforcement officials.
This film has many different rhythms and paces. At first the prolonged sex scenes last so long that they became uncomfortable and disturbing.Although the sex with the prostitutes was consensual Depardieux grunted in almost pig like fashion as he lost himself in debauchery and lust. It had the feel of a porn film but with believable characters. The scenes with Depardieux and Bissett often have the feel of improvisation particularly at the beginning. It would have been nice to have seen more of the victims reactions to the abuse that they were subjected too. The unrepentant nature of the lead character is alarming and brutally honest.He does not seek to be cured even after his arrest makes his life fall apart. He shows no feeling for his victims and just is a serial abuser. His blunt attempts at seduction is seen to be successful in one instance due to his wealth and status and overt womanising. Like Bad Lieutenant this film delivers moments of brutality and spiritual abandon. In both films the central characters are spiralling out of control. The Gauguin nudes on the walls of the apartment are well placed. In all despite the lengthy sex scenes and drawn out almost real time arrest the film is well constructed and well acted. The surreal almost "bad actor" dialogues between Bissett and Depardieux as they confront the aftermath of his arrest fluctuates between the inane and the poetic. I really liked the line that,"The reverse of Love is not hate but indifference" delivered by Bissett. The fact that this film is based on true events adds weight to the subject matter. A difficult film to watch and an adult film on more than one level.
They can deny it all they want, but the blueprint of the story is too close to a real person to not be immediately linked with it. Maybe they fear lawsuits by Sarkozy, though I doubt he still has the power to do anything like that, but that would be the only reason I can imagine. Obviously the portraying of a french man is not the best. Maybe some would feel that it does put all male from France into a doubtful light, but that would not be a fair assumption. We're talking about a spoiled guy, the nationality does not matter.There's also a lot of nudity in this (also from Gerard Depardieu, in case you were wondering). The subject matter is also very harsh, but shows what addiction and loss of sense (or senses?) can do to a person. Maybe therapy can help, maybe not. Bottom line is, there is bad things happening. All shown in a very slow pace (like a "body search", which has some fun dialog as well) ... can you bare it? (sorry for the pun)
What is this piece of work? An auteur film? A low-budged shock movie like "La Grande Bouffe" or "Baise-moi"? A porno? Whatever the case, this catastrophic film makes you wonder whether Abel Ferrara has really been directing movies for 40 years. Inconsistent characters, uneven editing and dialogue lines that are laughable at best and disturbingly weak at worst make this this movie a really painful experience, like a great romantic Austrian orchestral piece performed out of tune all the way through. The exhaustingly long and slow vampire of a film that is Welcome to New York begs the questions: has the production been rushed for some troubled reason(s)? is that why it backfires on all technical levels? did they use rehearsal footage? is that why the acting is so all over the place? There are, however, a few interesting moments here and there in the film: Depardieu's monologue towards the end of the film, the lighting reflected on Jacqueline Bisset during a quarrel in the couple's home cinema. They're only details, unfortunately, and they're not powerful enough to save the film from drowning. Abel Ferrara proves that being a "unique" artist doesn't make you a "competent" one and, most of all, that you can't always blame gaucherie on art.