Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has instructed lawyers to sue the makers of a movie in which veteran French star Gerard Depardieu plays a sex addict who commits a sexual assault on a hotel maid, his lawyer said on Monday.
"Welcome to New York" by Abel Ferrara, which had a private screening on the sidelines of the Cannes film festival at the weekend and has been on pay-per-view in France, is billed as a piece of fiction and comes with a legal disclaimer.
But Strauss-Kahn's lawyer said the film was defamatory in that its subject matter was similar to the accusations leveled against Strauss-Kahn, who quit the Washington-based International Monetary Fund in 2011 after a New York hotel maid accused him of sexual assault.
Strauss-Kahn settled a civil case taken by the maid after criminal charges were dropped.
"This happened three years ago and he was cleared," lawyer Jean Veil told Europe 1 radio on Monday.
"He is frightened, sickened (by the film). He has instructed his lawyers, myself, to make a complaint for defamation based on accusations of rape, on the insinuations made throughout this film."
Interviewed by Reuters TV in Cannes, fimlmaker Ferrara said the film was fiction and that he had the right to choose his subjects.
"I’m not on trial," Ferrara said. "I’m an artist, I have freedom of speech. I’m from America I’m from the country of the free, land of the free and home of the brave.
The film begins with an extended sex-party scene before the encounter between the main character, George Devereau, and a maid. Throughout the over 20-minute scene, Depardieu appears naked and flits from one bacchanalian encounter to another.
Reporters the screening were handed a gift bag containing condoms and Viagra.
Trade publication Variety called the film in a review "a sure-fire scandal-starter in France" and said the "audacious performance (from Depardieu) is undeniably the pic's chief selling point," a view shared by most critics.
Films that are not competing in the official 12-day film festival at Cannes often hold screenings nonetheless in order to gain publicity. Following the "Welcome to New York" screening, the film was made available throughout France on pay-per-view.
据其律师5月19日称，国际货币基金组织前总裁多米尼克·斯特劳斯·卡恩将起诉影片《欢迎到纽约来》的制片方。这部影片于今年法国戛纳国际电影节期间正式亮相。影片中，法国老牌影星杰拉德·德帕迪约饰演一个有性瘾的人，这个角色对宾馆招待进行了性侵犯。
《欢迎来纽约》是阿贝尔·费拉拉的作品，影片将于5月17日以在互联网上付费“视频点播”的方式正式亮相。这部电影被认为是虚构作品，有免责声明。
然而，卡恩的律师称，这部电影存在诽谤，因为电影中的性侵和卡恩当年面临的起诉内容如出一辙。2011年，一名女招待指控卡恩性侵，此后他辞去了国际货币基金组织的工作。
针对卡恩的刑事指控未能成立，卡恩和女招待又因民事案件对簿公堂。
“这件事就发生在三年前，他很清楚。”5月19日，律师吉恩·威尔在法国欧洲第一电台这样说。“他（被电影弄得）又心慌又恶心，已经让律师——也就是我——提起起诉，因为整部电影的内容都在诽谤他性侵。”
费拉拉在戛纳接受了路透社的电视采访，他说电影是虚构的，他有权利选择这个题材。
“我不是审案的，”费拉拉说，“我是个艺术家，我有言论自由。我来自自由的美国，自由之国，英勇之地。”
电影的开头是很长的一段性聚会场面，这时主角乔治·迪微瑞尔（George Devereau）和女招待还没有相遇。在整个20分钟的场景中，德帕迪约赤裸出镜，在放纵地和很多人相会。
看片记者都收到了装在袋子里的小礼物——避孕套和伟哥。
行业出版物Variety在评论中称这部电影“在法国为丑闻煽风点火”。有批评家说，“（德帕迪约）露骨的表演无疑是这部片子的首要买点。”
有些电影即便不参加戛纳电影节正式的12天角逐，也会通过放映赢得公众的关注。在放映之后，《欢迎来纽约》在法国就有了有偿点播服务。