14 DAY TRIAL // Leonardo DiCaprio, the producer on “Out of the Furnace,” which came out last year, is fighting back in a lawsuit filed by members of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation claiming the film erroneously portrays them as violent inbred hillbillies.
The film, starring Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Sam Shepard and Zoe Saldana, didn’t fare that well at the box office, which probably explains why you haven’t heard of it. However, it’s a chilling, gritty and beautifully narrated story of brotherly love and the need for revenge, with stellar performances from the entire principal cast.
The object of the lawsuit isn’t the quality of the movie though, but the fact that the villain, played by Woody Harrelson, shares some similarities with the Ramapo Mountain people from New Jersey, including a last name.
His character being a villain, it’s not exactly portrayed in a positive light: Harlan DeGroat is an utterly despicable, filthy, violent and completely ruthless gang leader without a single redeeming quality. He’s also depraved in every way you can probably think of.
So, the lawsuit argues that the film is, in fact, saying that all these people are drug addicts, trailer trash, inbred hillbillies who murder for pleasure.
DiCaprio, in his motion, says that allowing the lawsuit to go to court will effectively “chill free speech by subjecting creators and distributors of movies… to liability whenever some members of a distinct ethnic, cultural, social or other definable group dislike how their group is presented,” Radar Online reports.
He also underlines that the movie doesn’t identify the villain and his gang as being Rampano and that, if the real Rampanos suffered “emotional distress” because of it, he and the producers “do not owe a duty of care” to them if they “have not endangered [their] physical safety,” which they haven’t.
DiCaprio and the producers are asking for an oral argument for April 21, so that they can better argument their case.
The proceedings have received plenty of media attention, despite the fact that “Out of the Furnace” almost slipped by without registering, and we reckon DiCaprio’s name being associated to it had a lot to do with that. Even so, there’s no word on how much compensation is being sought for the alleged “emotional distress” the film caused.
On a lighter note, if you haven’t seen the film, now would be a good opportunity to recommend it to you: give it a chance.