Herzog and Ferrara
In a slightly unrelated-but-still-action-oriented bit of news, Jeff Wells has brought attention to a Filmmaker Magazine interview with director Abel Ferrara. The excerpt concerns Werner Herzog's sequel/continuation/something of Ferrara's 1992 film, Bad Lieutenant, originally starring Harvey Keitel, with Nicolas Cage now taking up the reins:
Filmmaker: "What are your feelings about Werner Herzog doing his version of Bad Lieutenant?"
Ferrara: "He can die in hell. I hate these people - they suck. A, he don't know me, couldn't pick me out of a line-up. B, I'm chasing windmills. Well, I'd rather chase windmills than steal other people's ideas. It's lame. I can't believe Nic Cage is trying to play that part. I mean, if the kid needed the money... It's like Harvey Keitel said, 'If the guy needed the money, if he came to us and said, 'My career's on the rocks,' I'd cut him a break.' But to take $2 million - I mean, our film didn't cost half of $2 million. That film was made on blood and guts, man. So I really wish it didn't upset me as much as it does."
Filmmaker: "You're going to be doing the prequel to King of New York soon."
Ferrara: "So I'm ripping off Abel just like that too. [laughs] If I did King of New York, I'm not doing the prequel to Aguirre: the Wrath of God, okay? Let me put it that way."
Filmmaker: "So they're making the film against your will?"
Ferrara: "Absolutely. Nobody asked us to do it. Nobody approached us and said, 'Would you do it?' Give us $8 million, we'll come up with something. They give me twenty grand and say, 'Go fuck yourself.' Gimme a break! They aren't paying Harvey anything, they aren't paying him two cents. Ed Pressman sucks cock in hell, period. You can print that."
Ferrara's harsh words for Herzog and co. probably stemmed from an earlier interview with Defamer in which Herzog claimed to have "no idea" who Ferrara was:
Herzog: "I don't feel like doing an homage to Abel Ferrara because I don't know what he did — I've never seen a film by him. I have no idea who he is. Is he Italian? Is he French? Who is he?"
As famous as Herzog's filmography is, I think his comments are massively arrogant in this context, and regardless of Ferrara's somewhat juvenille attacks over the last year. And besides, Ferrara's got some real guts to go after another filmmaker like this, and more significantly to defend his original material. Bad Lieutenant was a monumental film--a gritty, low budget, no-holds-barred NC-17 view of New York recalling back to the grittiness of '70s N.Y.C. cinema. Much in the vein of the simply unfeasible remaking of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, this is a horrible idea, and as much fun as Nic Cage action flicks can be, I can't stand to see this great material be bastardized and by such a famous director at that.
In other words, I'm with Ferrara one this one. Herzog, Cage, and Pressman can go and "die in hell." Fuck 'em.
Photo credit: Nymag
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