Rent Welcome to New York (2014)

A sheep in wolves clothing! - Welcome to New York review by BE

A young Adonis he ain't but full marks to Gerard Depardieu in his middle years for unashamedly exposing himself as a man with an unrequited sex drive. The first part of the movie appears to lend itself to soft porn. This depicts his character and sets the scene for the ensuing trauma that enters his life through an act performed on an unwilling individual. The acting from GD is faultless and there appears to be quite a lot of ad lib dialogue throughout. The best movie GD has done for a quite while. Although he plays what on the surface appears to be an obnoxious individual, he has an underlying charisma and I was enthralled.

Unbelievably provocative but also a film filled with fury towards the treatment of women by rich men - Welcome to New York review by TB

Abel Ferrara is not a filmmaker who does things by halves. The only other film of his I have seen is The Bad Lieutenant, which takes a dive into hell, following the spiral & disgusting behaviour of an unnamed police lieutenant abusing his power in every way it is possible to, using as cover his position within the very institution which is supposed to uphold the law. In many ways, this film looks at a similar power imbalance, although instead of the crime-ridden & dangerous streets of New York City, this takes place inside the luxurious hotel suites within that US State.

Mr Devereaux is an extremely powerful & wealthy Frenchman who is visiting New York on business. He is mooted as a possible French President & appears to held in high regard on the world stage. In the opening scenes, it is very quickly established that he is a man of huge depravity & excesses, ordering prostitutes to his hotel suite and then engaging in extreme sex & drug taking. Some time later, he returns to his suite & discovers a hotel maid cleaning his room. He then aggressively sexually assaults her. After the attack, she reports him to the police. The film then follows the aftermath of this/the investigation of Devereaux.

For me, as a film, I was instantly grabbed by it. To be honest, when it started, I thought this was actually a porn film, due to the level of sexuality shown on screen. But what stuck with me most, apart from the huge & visceral anger that Ferrara clearly has towards wealthy men who sexually assault women, especially poorer women of colour, is how disgusting & repulsive the protagonist is shown to be. In what has been called an incredibly brave performance by Gérard Depardieu, Mr Devereaux is such a disgusting & dispicible person, you wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire, instead reaching for petrol. He is a man totally without shame or morals.

The reason & inspiration (used in the most horrific sense of the word,) for this film was the allegations against Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the subsequent dismissal of charges being pressed, due in part to the immense wealth/legal firepower that Strauss-Kahn was able to afford. Even in the end credits, there is an air of apology towards the victim in the real case.

But for me, the real stand-out in this film is without question Depardieu & his performance. In this movie, Depardieu plays a character without shame & in every sense of the word his performance is the same. There is not a hint of embarrassment or modesty. The nadir of this is a scene, which has been mentioned in other reviews, in the police station after Devereaux has been arrested. He is ordered to strip to be searched. And when naked you see the total wreck that this man is: a disgusting, obscenely bloated stomach propped up by a ruined body & monstrous ego. Even in this act of what almost anyone else would consider abject humiliation, he still stands arrogant & argumentative.

And as the film goes on, it doesn't matter what sense of dress he is in, he just plunges deeper down the toilet of revoltingness, whether with his wife or when trying to destroy the character of the innocent woman he attacked, knowing that she is poor & powerless against the well-oiled & funded machine he is supported by.

For many, this film will simply be too disgusting, brutal, raw or upsetting to watch. But for me, that's why it works. This film shows you in unflinchingly graphic detail the horror of rape & the trauma of trying to get justice. Ferrara and Depardieu are working at the pinnacle of their abilities. Strap in & prepare to have every emotion put through the wringer.