Untouchable (2019)

Directed by: Ursula Macfarlane | 98 minutes | documentary | Starring: Rosanna Arquette, Erika Rosenbaum, Paz de la Huerta, Hope Exiner D’Amore, Caitlin Dulany, Ronan Farrow, Louise Godbold, Nannette Klatt, John Schmidt

In January 2019 Ursula Macfarlane’s documentary ‘Untouchable’ was screened with high expectations at the Sundance Film Festival, but the reason is less attractive. Whereas film production company Miramax – with Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob at the helm – was previously responsible for winning entries, Harvey himself now stands in a completely different light. In 2017, the first shocking stories surfaced about alleged intimidation, assaults, threats and rapes against Weinstein. His employees and actresses decided to stop talking about what became the worldwide #MeToo movement thanks in part to New York Times journalist Ronan Farrow. A sizeable article about Weinstein’s dealings was published in the famous newspaper, with the result that no fewer than eighty women reported about (sexual) abuse by the film magnate.

For nearly a quarter of a century, Harvey was at the top. He produced box office hits such as ‘Shakespeare in Love’, ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Good Will Hunting’. His fame and fortune reached far and many an actress was only too happy to work with Miramax and later the Weinstein Company. The fact that these collaborations turned out to be expensive was painfully apparent in 2017.

Narcissistic abuse of power, intimidation, transgressive sexual and terrorizing behavior is the common denominator in all stories. Gwyneth Paltrow, then 22, was ordered to give Harvey an inappropriate massage, and Angelina Jolie and Uma Thurman also have no pleasant memories of their discussions with him. In some cases, they also say that actresses including Paz de la Huerta, Rose McGowan and Asia Argento were raped.

Harvey is a man of stature, also in a literal sense. His frail victims, whom he wanted to ‘talk to’ in his hotel room, were no match for the sex-hungry businessman. They were practiced cornered. Do you ever want to work as an actress in Hollywood? Then you’re willing to pay this, right?’. In the documentary ‘Untouchable’ we hear, among other things, the story of the Canadian Erika Rosenbaum. She was promised a great acting career in exchange for sex. And not once, but three times she was intimidated by Harvey. Erika did not agree with his misbehavior and she only now – very poignantly – deserves her moment in the limelight with the general public thanks to ‘Untouchable’. This is just one example of the numerous stories of duped actresses and Weinstein’s colleagues. These allegations have taken a heavy toll; his wife Georgina has left him, he has been fired from the Weinstein Company, Harvey has been disbarred from several prestigious film guilds and he is an absolute persona non grata worldwide.

The whole affair gets even darker when Harvey Weinstein feels wet and enlists renowned Black Cube detectives (ex-Mossad agents) to cover his tracks and spy on victims and malicious journalists. The detectives do a perfect job; no incriminating evidence can be found on the internet. But the saying goes here too: no matter how fast the lie is, the truth will catch up with it.

‘Untouchable’ one-sidedly tells the stories of women and men who have fallen prey to a large arsenal of misbehavior by Harvey Weinstein. But what the documentary lacks as a result is hearing both sides of the argument. No attention has been paid to an interview with, for example, Harvey’s lawyers or objective psychologists who can provide insight into the thinking of a man like Harvey. This could have been a welcome addition, given the global scale of the Me Too movement.

In 2018, Harvey was arrested on multiple counts of rape and sexual harassment. He is now free on $1 million bail, is required to wear an ankle bracelet, is not allowed to leave the states of New York and Connecticut, but above all maintains that he is innocent. Since the trial will only be served in September 2019 and Weinstein has not yet been judicially sentenced to an appropriate sentence, it may be somewhat easy not to look at the events from multiple perspectives.