Director Abel Ferrara was less than pleased over Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, a remake/spinoff of Ferrara's 1992 original; here's their brief feud explained. Abel Ferrara is the director behind such luridly violent thrillers like The Driller Killer, Ms. 45 and King Of New York. While much of his earlier work was often greeted with controversy, they were often infused with thoughtful themes and great performances too.
One of Ferrara's most infamous works is 1992's Bad Lieutenant, which cast Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs) in the title role. Keitel's unnamed cop is shown to be a self-destructing drug addict who frequently abuses his power but makes an attempt at redemption. The movie's first cut received a well-earned NC-17 rating, with later cuts trimming out some of the stronger scenes. Despite being relentlessly bleak from beginning to end the movie is considered one of Ferrara's best, with Keitel's raw performance being singled out for praise. It was also one of Martin Scorsese's favorite movies of the 1990s.
In 2008 it was confirmed famed German director Werner Herzog would be helming a remake titled Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans with Nicolas Cage playing the titular role. The eventual 2009 movie was met with largely warm critical reviews for its surprisingly funny tone and Cage giving one of his wildest turns as the hopelessly corrupt Lieutenant McDonagh. The final movie isn't really a remake, however, as outside of centering on a "Bad Lieutenant" and a subplot involving the character being in debt with a bookie, they're very different films.
One person who was profoundly not pleased with Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans' announcement was Abel Ferrara, who hadn't been informed about it per to the announcement. In an interview with Filmmaker Magazine, he stated about Herzog that "He can die in hell," before decrying the project and the producers behind it. The drama wasn't helped when Herzog later commented he didn't know who Ferrara was and hadn't seen the original. It turns out Herzog tried to get the title Bad Lieutenant changed once he learned of the other film, but the producer insisted it stay; the subtitle Port of Call New Orleans was later tacked on as a compromise.
Abel Ferrara continued to be unhappy about Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans in the press, but years after its release he and Herzog met at the Locarno Film Festival to make peace, with Herzog explaining the title snafu. Sadly, Herzog's movie was a box-office failure despite the great reviews and had it been a success there were reports of further Bad Lieutenant movies being set in different cities, though it seems unlikely Herzog or Nic Cage would have returned.
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January 27, 2021 at 05:10AM
