HARVEY KEITEL - DIRECTORS FERRARA, HERZOG BATTLE OVER MOVIE TITLE

DIRECTORS FERRARA, HERZOG BATTLE OVER MOVIE TITLE

U.S. director Abel Ferrara has expressed outrage over German director Werner Herzog's apparent decision to lift the title of Ferrara's 1992 classic Bad Lieutenant for Herzog's latest film, Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans. The movie, starring Nicolas Cage, is screening currently at the Venice Film Festival. Herzog had previously said that he had never seen Ferrara's film, which starred Harvey Keitel. But in an interview with Reuters in Venice, Ferrara, upon learning about the title of Herzog's film, exploded, saying, "I wish these people would die in hell." Herzog later clarified his remark, saying that his beef is not with Ferrara or Cage but with the movie's producers. Earlier, Herzog had acknowledged that he was pressured by one of the producers of his movie to use the title in order to turn it into "some sort of a franchise." He said he had insisted on adding the words Port of Call New Orleans to the title in order to avoid any confusion with Ferrara's movie.

10/09/2009