Feud over film Bad Lieutenant remake could end over whisky

Sep 4, 2009, 14:05 GMT

Venice, Italy - Werner Herzog presented Friday his remake of the film Bad Lieutenant at the Venice Film Festival and suggested a feud with Abel Ferrara, who directed the original 1997 version of the film, could end 'over a glass of whisky.'

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, a noir thriller starring Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes, had spectators clapping loudly during a screening in Venice where it is competing for the top Golden Lion award.

'I have not seen any of his (Abel Ferrara's) films,' Herzog said, replying to a question on whether he had been influenced by the previous version.

The German-born director then added that over 'a bottle whisky' he planned to meet Ferrara who is set to present another film in the Italian lagoon city.

US filmmaker Ferrara reportedly said he wished all those involved in the remake 'die in hell,' when asked about Herzog's film.

Like the 1997 film starring Harvey Keitel, Bad Lieutenant tells the story of a police officer whose life derails over his addiction to drugs and gambling .

Herzog's version is set in New Orleans instead of New York, and in it Cage's role as Lieutenant Terrence McDonagh is similar to the self-destructive alcoholic character the Hollywwod star played in the 1995 film, Leaving Las Vegas, which won him a Best Actor Oscar.

Mendes as Frankie Donnenfeld, play's McDonagh's prostitute girlfriend.