UNTOUCHABLE: THE RISE AND FALL OF HARVEY WEINSTEIN (TV)
Summary
This documentary feature profiles the impressive career and disturbing personal life of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Having been accused of sexual misconduct by over 80 women, the producer turns himself in to police on May 25, 2018 amid intense press scrutiny, though lawyer Benjamin Brafman declares that none of the charges against his client are "factually supported." Hope D'Amore describes meeting Weinstein and his business partner Horace "Corky" Burger in 1978 in Buffalo, New York, where they were working as music producers, though Weinstein spoke passionately about moving into the film business. D'Amore accompanied Weinstein to New York. She says that he then got into bed with her and overpowered her physically, forcing a sexual encounter over her protests. D'Amore says she felt unable to press charges, as Weinstein "owned the cops," and she explains how such incidents "steal something" from a victim.
Jack Lechner, who worked at Miramax, the production company named for Weinstein's parents Miriam and Max, describes his former boss as a "caricature" of a powerful, aggressive mogul. Other employees discuss his unusual talents for marketing and promotion in the independent cinema world, naming "Cinema Paradiso" (1988), "My Left Foot" (1989) and "sex, lies and videotape" (1989) as the "big three" films that established the company's credibility. When Disney bought Miramax in 1993, Harvey and brother Bob maintained strong creative freedom, and it is stated that Harvey "broke a lot of people" with his hot-headed, bullying methods. CFO John Schmidt alludes to a "very bad incident" with a young female assistant, and employee Kathy Declesis recalls quitting in anger after discovering that a woman suing him for assault had been silenced with a payout and a non-disclosure agreement. Another assistant, Zelda Perkins, recalls how Weinstein "normalized" his inappropriate behavior, including disrobing in front of female employees, adding that, after assaulting a friend of hers, he "swore" innocence on his first wife and children's names. Perkins plays some of the many phone messages left by Weinstein after her abrupt resignation, in which he repeatedly "begs" her to contact him and forget their disagreement.
Journalist Ken Auletta of The New Yorker learned of the many dark rumors surrounding the producer as he attempted to profile Weinstein, but as Perkins' NDA forbade her from speaking to anyone, even a therapist, about her experiences at Miramax, Auletta was unable to include her story in the piece. Actress Erika Rosenbaum recalls Weinstein's claims that he had boosted the careers of many famous actresses who supposedly slept with him, and she describes being summoned to a nighttime meeting in his office, where she halfheartedly gave in to his demands for a massage before escaping in fear. At the same time, Weinstein became "laser-focused" on the Academy Awards and was "thanked more than God" by winners from such films as "The English Patient" (1996) and "Life is Beautiful" (1997). Behind the scenes, however, tensions brewed between Harvey and his more level-headed brother Bob, whom Lechner describes as being somewhat more "normal" and friendly.
A schoolmate from Queens describes the young Harvey as "not very sociable," adding that he gradually developed a reputation for "acting like the Godfather." Viewing himself as a social underdog, Weinstein thrived in the glamorous, adoring atmosphere of 1990s Hollywood, where he attempted to "recreate the romance of the studio era." Several other women, including actresses Rosanna Arquette and Paz de la Huerta, describe being assaulted by Weinstein in a progression of events starting with private meetings in hotel rooms or offices that turned into massage requests and forced sexual behavior, along with threats of damage to their lives and careers if they refused. All of the women recall a sense of profound shock and an almost "out-of-body" sensation during the alleged assaults, adding that many of his subordinates were aware of such encounters. Lechner, Declesis and assistant Lauren O'Connor comment as well, noting that showbiz gossip tended to reframe the incidents as women voluntarily offering themselves to Weinstein to score movie roles or other advantages. Rosenbaum recalls a second non-consensual encounter – arranged by a female assistant – with Weinstein at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Journalists Rebecca Traister and Andrew Goldman recall a public incident in which they attempted to question Weinstein about 2001's "O," a teen drama inspired by "Othello" that was held back from release for possible political reasons. Weinstein lost his temper with the pair and attacked them verbally and physically, unintentionally giving Goldman "the money quote of all time" when he crassly declared himself "the sheriff of this town." Goldman describes the tussle over his tape recorder as "surreal," and Traister notes that no photos of the scuffle were ever published, again confirming Weinstein's powerful media influence. Amidst financial and creative trouble, Harvey and Bob left Disney in 2005, thus losing the personal "Miramax" name, and formed The Weinstein Company. Traister noticed that Weinstein was attempting to boost his "waning" power by presenting himself as a feminist ally, donating generously to presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton's campaigns.
Journalist Ronan Farrow describes Weinstein's highly expensive methods of squashing the mounting negative stories about him, including hiring private investigators from the Mossad-based intelligence firm Black Cube. The spies tailed journalists, including Farrow, and dug up old photos of "the client's" targets socializing with him after their alleged assaults in order to "disprove" their claims. Farrow, facing many roadblocks and legal threats, finally found a "smoking gun" in the form of a secret audio recording made by another victim, Ambra Gutierrez, on which Weinstein seems to confess to repeated assaults. Farrow published his explosive New Yorker piece in November 2017 alongside a similar report in the New York Times, which featured O'Connor's damning internal memo. Rosenbaum describes her shock at seeing so many women relating experiences nearly identical to hers. D'Amore declares that he will never change his ways, despite his claims of "getting help" and after being fired from his company and divorced by second wife Georgina Chapman. The "Me Too" movement, in which millions of women shared stories of assault and harassment, sprang up in the aftermath of the reports, and Farrow claims that there is "a Weinstein in every industry," supported and protected by powerful systems of money, power and silence. The film concludes by noting that Weinstein, whose trial began in January 2020, denies all of the allegations of non-consensual sex, and that Bob has claimed ignorance of any wrongdoing.
Details
- NETWORK: BBC Two
- DATE: 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:34:13
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 138130
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Sexual harassment and rape; Motion picture producers and directors; Hollywood
- SERIES RUN: BBC Two - TV, 2019
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Charles Dorfman … Finance Executive Producer
- David Gilbert … Finance Executive Producer
- Hugo Grumbar … Finance, Sales & Distribution Executive Producer
- Tim Haslam … Finance, Sales & Distribution Executive Producer
- Simon Chinn … Producer
- Jonathan Chinn … Producer
- Poppy Dixon … Producer
- Vanessa Tovell … Co-Producer
- Sasha Kosminsky … Assistant Producer
- Paul Gardner … Archive Producer
- Jo Stones … Archive Producer
- Jack Lechner … Consultant Producer
- Adam Ciralsky … Consultant Producer
- Jessica Ross … Line Producer
- Wendy Smith … Consultant Producer
- Ursula Macfarlane … Director
- Anne Nikitin … Music by
- Hope D'Amore … Interviewee
- John Schmidt … Interviewee
- Jack Lechner … Interviewee
- Kathy Declesis … Interviewee
- Zelda Perkins … Interviewee
- Ken Auletta … Interviewee
- Erika Rosenbaum … Interviewee
- Rosanna Arquette … Interviewee
- Paz de la Huerta … Interviewee
- Lauren O'Connor … Interviewee
- Rebecca Traister … Interviewee
- Andrew Goldman … Interviewee
- Ronan Farrow … Interviewee
- Benjamin Brafman
- Horace "Corky" Burger
- Georgina Chapman
- Hillary Clinton
- Ambra Gutierrez
- Bob Weinstein
- Harvey Weinstein