Two French films are about to explode on to the screen, dealing with real, mega-famous people and likely to cause controversy and mayhem in their wake.
In each case, in different ways, we are invited to treat the productions as fictional. Gérard Depardieu's character is not really Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but another ridiculously rich, sexually insatiable Frenchman who "dreamed of saving the world and cannot save himself". Equally Jacqueline Bisset is not Anne Sinclair but "Simone".
Nicole Kidman is indeed Princess Grace of Monaco and the film, which premieres this week in France (French media reports say it is still not certain whether Harvey Weinstein will distribute it in the US) does examine conflicts of marriage in a royal household and the identity of a strong, successful woman.
The royal palace has let it be known it bitterly resents the making of the film, alleging that much of the content is factually incorrect or worse. But the director Olivier Dahan insists he intended no "biopic", saying the scenes drawn from reality rub shoulders with others imagined, his artistic "right to fiction".
Abel Ferrara's Welcome to New York may succeed less on its subject matter, compelling in itself, than on the inspired choice of Depardieu as star. His portrayal of Monsieur Devereaux, not to be confused with DSK except in moments of self-evident truth, has already been described in Variety as audacious and the obvious selling point. It receives its premiere in Cannes during but not part of the film festival, which opens this week; the organisers wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. Convinced the establishment is hostile to them, the producers have opted for video-on-demand release.
Two quotes I loved: Depardieu saying at one point he would have taken the part for nothing (the co-producer, Vincent Maraval, says this is just a manner of speaking; he was actually paid €100,000 according to Le Journal du Dimanche. And a friend of DSK and Sinclair's to Maraval, assuming Maraval's recall can be trusted: "You should know one thing: Anne Sinclair will devote her fortune to destroying your life". We can safely assume that this meant she was cross, not homicidal.
Of the two films, having covered the DSK story since the day of his arrest, I shall probably look out for Welcome to New York while joining assorted Grimaldis, the indignant Monégasque royal family, in giving Kidman and Co a wide berth.
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