(2014,
1080p)
Abel Ferrara's
Welcome
to New York, a
fictionalized version of
the
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
scandal is the
talk of Cannes right
now, even though it was
not even entered in the
2014 Cannes Film
Festival. Ferrara and
his backers, after
having their film
rejected by the
festival, simply rented
a theater in town and
showed their film at the
same timer that the
festival was running.
For all of its
transgressive
intentions, it is
ultimately a movie that
moves slower than
tectonic shifting, with
no concept of how long a
scene should be, or how
much camera movement is
necessary to hold the
attention of a modern
audience. Worst of all,
it doesn't seem to have
a point, other than that
Strauss-Kahn (played by
Gerard Derpardieu, using
the fictional name
Devereaux) was a guilty
monster who walked away
because he was rich and
his wife (played by
Jacqueline Bisset) was
even richer. When you
get right down to it,
that point is hardly
worth a movie,
especially given that we
don't even know for sure
whether it is true. (He
actually ended up
walking away from the
criminal charges because
of massive
inconsistencies in the
testimony of the victim,
and alarming patterns of
behavior in that woman's
past life,
including but not
limited to a fabricated
rape story. The DA was
the one who dropped his
own case.)
Having said all those
negative things, I
should add that there is
some epic nudity,
including about three
minutes of Gerard
Depardieu's elderly,
obese body completely
naked from all angles.
We'll take a pass on
that, although seeing
Depardieu is unavoidable
in general, since he
also appeared in every
one of the women's nude
scenes chronicled below,
although he stayed
discreetly covered. (But
not discreetly enough,
in my opinion.)
Lucy
Campbell is naked
as a prostitute in
Devereaux's hotel room
After she leaves, ol'
Gerard orders two more
hookers, played by
Raquel
Nave and Natasha
Romanova
Shanyn
Leigh exposes one
breast and the top half
of her butt in a foiled
rape scene.
Gerard/Devereaux has sex
with exactly one women
who is neither paid nor
raped:
Emmanuelle
Vill. She has a
beautiful body.
