Welcome to New York

A short summary: DSK is bad. DSK IS REALLY BAD. Don't believe it yet? Here, have another monologue, literrally describing how terrible he is. DSK est méchant. I get it.Je comprends. Fuck this bilingual bullshit.

The ambition is there, framing the events in unusual ways (e.g., the careful attention to the realities of policing and incarceration), but the key scenes on which the film ultimately hangs, the confrontations between husband and wife, too closely resemble amateur theatrics, highlighting the inability of the two leads to improvise their way past clichéd melodramatics. A deeper descent into decadent hell was needed if Ferrara hoped to expose the nihilism of Devereaux's corrupt je m'en foutisme.

It remains remarkable that someone like Ferrara, half-crazy and constantly fucked up on any number of intoxicants, is able to put together films of such substantial craft and emotional power, but his childish, nihilistic worldview has lost its appeal. There's no question that Depardieu is very entertaining to watch, but the content of the movie is intellectually vapid and needlessly antagonistic, cynically playing on our kneejerk hatred of wealthy bankers.

would work well as a double bill with Wolf of Wall Street, but the design and mood of this film is far different. Some scenes really open up and play for as naturally long as they wish to (the first two to do so are orgy scenes), making this an engaging watch and the viewer gets a really good look at Devereaux whilst he's never condemned nor excused by the film. With its procedural unraveling, Devereaux's characterisation is drip fed, with Depardieu's (and Bisset's) performance being perfect.

Based loosely on the Dominique Strauss-Kahn scandal, Ferrara's latest journey into addiction and excess is his best and most focused work since New Rose Hotel. Devereaux is a sexual predator, a monster of entitlement, a powerful man who is shielded from the consequences of his bad behaviour by a wall of privilege. Depardieu is ferocious in a no hold's barred performance featuring a full frontal nude scene that captures the very essence of Ferrara's gritty and uncompromising cinema.

Welcome to New York is not a pleasant watch. Its goal is to make you see its lead character -- based on a real person and a real-world case -- as guilty and terrible for the crimes it believes he most certainly did commit. It's an interesting watch at the beginning, as it shines light into this individual's life, but eventually the conversations and revelations repeat. It's only thanks to Gérard Depardieu's performance that it remains captivating. He's incredible in the lead role.

An effort that highlights Ferrara's gift to show flawed characters who don't bother to be exposed -- the case is even stronger because Gérard's recent personal life has also been troubled. It starts like a film about acting -- with Gérard talking about his role --, embraces a porn vérité look -- those hotel room shadows are both erotic and evil -- and then unfolds into a courtroom drama about a man we just can't stand for. Because he simply won't stop/give in. A raw, unfunny Wolf of Wall Street.