''Welcome to New York'' is a 2014 French-American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

co-written and directed by

Abel Ferrara Abel Ferrara (born July 19, 1951) is an American filmmaker, known for the provocative and often controversial content in his movies and his use of neo-noir imagery and gritty urban settings. A long-time independent filmmaker, some of his best kn ...

. Inspired by the Dominique Strauss-Kahn affair when the prominent French politician was accused of sexual assaulting a hotel maid, the film was released on 17 May 2014 by VOD on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

as the film failed to secure a place on the Official Selection at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition section. The Palme d'Or was awarded to the Turkish film '' Winter Sleep'' directed by Nuri Bi ...

(where it was given a special market screening), nor was it picked up for theatrical distribution in France. According to Vincent Maraval, one of the producers, the film faced a boycott by the French media.

Synopsis

The film tells the story of a powerful man, a possible candidate for the Presidency of France, who lives a life of debauchery and is arrested after being accused of raping a maid at his hotel.

Cast

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 al ...

as George Devereaux *

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

as Simone Devereaux *

Marie Mouté Marie Mouté (also billed as Moute) is a Swiss-French actress best known for starring in the French TV-series '' La vie devant nous'', from 2002 to 2006. Career Marie Mouté started her career by starring the French TV series '' La vie devant no ...

as Sophie Devereaux *

Drena De Niro Drena De Niro (born September 3, 1971) is an American actress and filmmaker who is the daughter of Diahnne Abbott and adoptive daughter of Robert De Niro after their marriage in 1976. Life and career De Niro is the daughter of actress Diahnne A ...

as Executive Assistant *

Amy Ferguson Amy Ferguson is an American actress and model. Ferguson is also a singer-songwriter who goes by the stage name of "Grandma Dirt." Life and career Ferguson was born in Cincinnati and raised in southern Ohio. She attended Dr. John Hole Elementar ...

as Renee *

Paul Calderón Paul Calderón is a Puerto Rican actor, writer, director and producer. He is a founding member of the Touchstone Theatre, the American Folk Theatre and the LAByrinth Theater Company. He is also a member of the Actors Studio, auditioning and a ...

as Pierre *

Ronald Guttman Ronald Guttman (born 12 August 1952) is a Belgian actor, theatrical producer and film producer. Career Guttman was born in Uccle. He started appearing in French language productions in Europe in 1975, appearing in his first English-language film ...

as Roullot *

Paul Hipp Paul Hipp (born July 16, 1963) is an American actor, singer, songwriter and filmmaker. Early life Paul Hipp was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Warminster. He left Pennsylvania for New York City immediately after high school, st ...

as Guy * Anna Lakomy as Anna * Natasha Romanova as Russian Yelena * Aurelie Claudel as Air France VIP Escort * John Patrick Barry as Port Authority Chief *

Anh Duong Anh Duong (born 25 October 1960) is a French-American artist, actress, and model. She is known for her self-portraits, which she has compared to a visual diary, as well as portraits of significant art collectors and influencers. Early life D ...

as Livia * Kathryn Lillecrapp as Bebe * Jim Heaphy as Detective Fitzgerald

Reception and lawsuit

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 56 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by a fearless performance from Gerard Depardieu, ''Welcome to New York'' is director Abel Ferrara at his most repulsive -- and most compulsively watchable." Following its release – to mixed reviews varying from high praise to outright disgust – Strauss-Kahn said he would sue for slander. His lawyer also complained that the film's portrayal of Strauss-Kahn's then-wife, Anne Sinclair, was

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. The film suggests Mrs. Deveraux's family profited from

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In fact, Sinclair's real family were French Jews who fled the country and had their property confiscated when Germany invaded. Sinclair echoed the criticism, but declined to press charges. Ferrara, in a series of interviews with Indiewire, ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' and other publications between September 2014 and March 2015, claimed that his distributor, Vincent Maraval of Wild Bunch, sold an unauthorized R-rated version of the film to IFC Films, for distribution in the US; the R-rated cut had already been released on Blu-ray and VOD in various European countries. Maraval subsequently responded that Ferrara had agreed on the R-rated cut to receive more financing for the film and had also contractually consented to lose final cut of the R-rated version if he did not deliver one by a certain date. Ferrara then stated his intent to send a cease-and-desist letter to Maraval and IFC, which issued its own statement also claiming that it had given Ferrara the chance to deliver his own R-rated cut for theatrical showings in the US, which he declined to do. As of March 27, the R-rated cut has only been shown at one American theater – the Roxie in San Francisco – though it is available in the US on VOD, and IFC has stated it intends to show it at additional theaters.

References

External links

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Official trailer
at '' The Local'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome to New York (2014) 2014 films 2014 drama films English-language French films French drama films American drama films 2010s French-language films Films directed by Abel Ferrara Films set in New York City Films à clef 2014 multilingual films French multilingual films American multilingual films Dominique Strauss-Kahn 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s French films