Welcome To New York

In August 2011, i experienced one of the greatest moments i have ever read in a newspaper. It was as it was meant to happen, just because i have such a great taste for news. French actor Gerard Depardieu needed to pee, but was told that he could not pee at that moment, he have to wait. So, Gerard tried to pee in a bottle, and then pee came on the floor also, infront of other passangers. So why do i love this story ? Because Gerard is a man who is known for both doing odd things, and saying odd things. Like when he told us that he used to be a gay prostitute, even a grave robber. Is there anything this guy have not been ? Well, probably not Liberace´s lover, but who knows, maybe he was also ? From the 80´s and the 90´s, Gerard gave us alot of different genre films, and he continued to work both in french motion pictures, as well as american films. All of them have not been very big successes, but he seems to keep his image stay alive, maybe because of all his shocking statements, especially that he drinks 14 wine bottles each day. Can you really do that ? I think he might be joking about this. Either way, Gerard is a french film icon, and he have given us some good performances over the years. One of the films i remember most, is Élisa, a french film, with a very powerful performance by Vanessa Paradis. This film is hard to find online, but i suggest if you do find the dvd for sale, buy it. When i heard the news that Gerard Depardieu was going to do a film, based on the french politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, i became really curious. A politician who lived a very rough Life, abusing women sexually and having personal problems, seemed to be the perfect story to make a film based on his scandals. Considering that the film became controversial because of all nudity and sex scenes, it seemed to be a perfect combination to show the audience at the Cannes Film Festival. But did you know, that they decided not to show the film becaude of the sexual content ? With the director Abel Ferrara , who directed the 1992 classic Bad Lieutenant, and controversial actor Gerard Depardieu working together, is this a future classic, or is this not what i expected at all ?

Deveraux ( Gerard Depardieu ) is the president of a French financial institution. He lives a rough life, with prostitutes, alcohol and don´t care about his wife. The party continue when ever he have the chance to end up in a hotel room with fresh girls. But Everything is about to end, when Deveraux force a maid to give him oral sex. She escapes, and Deveraux is not worried about what happened. Suddenly the maid begin to speak, and is asked to point him out at the police station. She points him out, so Deveraux is arrested. Deveraux supportive wife Simone ( Jaqueline Bisset ) is tired of her cheating husband, and tells him exactly how she feels. Deveraux belive he will walk free, because he is a very powerful person, but is that enough to get away from this crime ?

I have not followed Gerard Deparideu´s movie releases, simply because i lost interest in him from his awful police film Diamant 13. Just thinking about it makes me feel ill. But a year after this awful release, he did surprise me with My Afternoons With Margueritte. A fun drama comedy, where he did fit his character. So when i read the press reviews of Welcome To New York, shocked the Cannes Film Festival, i just had to take a look at this film. Knowing that this film is based on the scandalous french politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn, i was curious to see how they captured this story, and if they managed to make it believable. I realise that all events may not have taken place, that some parts may only be fictional, but director Abel Ferrara manage to make it feel like you are told how it could have happened. And to make it look good is a very important detail, especially when a scandal like this have been reported all over the world. This may be one of the best performances that i have ever seen Gerard Depardieu, do in a motion picture. He is a swine, treating women like they are garbage, and lives only to please himself. When you see the scene where he is forcing a maid to give him a blow job, and you see her struggling to get away, you feel the anger inside of you. It looks so real, that Gerard really tried to make it look like he tries to rape her. This is one of the reasons why Welcome To New York is so effective. There is a lot of nudity, brutality in some scenes, but it is necessary to capture the feeling of the story. Unfortunately, since this film was not shown on cinemas all over the world, not many people have heard about this film. I watched it on dvd, when it was released here in Sweden. I suggest you rent it, and see a portrait of an awful man, who have no limits. We live in a world where money is more important than people, and that is the truth. Welcome To New York shows us one side of this world, where rich people think they can do whatever they want, because they are rich. My personal view of humans is, no matter if you are rich or poor, what matters is that you are a good person and help others in need. It does not matter if you are an lawyer or a garbage man, we are all humans, no one is more important. Welcome To New York is a very important film, because it shows how wrong the male image is sometimes of women. Gerard Depardieu should have won some awards for his performance, i think this might be one of his best films ever so far, and that is a good sign. Rent this one, the unrated version is out, so you should take the time to see it, just to get a glimpse of how bad this world can be.

Rating: DDD