A rough-shaven, haggard man wearing a black ball cap pulled over his graying, unkempt hair might not have been what the small audience was expecting when they went to hear director Abel Ferrara speak Monday night after a screening of his 1998 film “New Rose Hotel.”

But that’s exactly what film students, faculty and area residents got at the screening and question-and-answer period, sponsored by the Block Museum of Art and the School of Communication, in a packed Block Museum auditorium.

Ferrara was introduced by David Leonardis, the owner of a Chicago gallery that is exhibiting a 13-artist group show, including the work of Ferrara’s wife. After Leonardis told the audience how he convinced Ferrara to come to the screening when they met in New York to discuss his wife’s exhibit, Ferrara quickly introduced his film.

“This film was very close to our hearts,” Ferrara said.

“New Rose Hotel” features three-girl sex-shows juxtaposed with Rubenesque paintings and a cut-throat corporate kidnapping ending in a deadly plague — elements that exemplify the style Ferrara is famous for.

Although his films “The King of New York” and “Bad Lieutenant” are widely discussed, Ferrara’s work also has been criticized for portraying excessive violence. Most of his movies were so shocking to U.S. audiences that they were never released in theaters, Ferrara said.

In the question-and-answer period following the screening, one audience member asked Ferrara if it bothered him that many of his movies went directly to video.

“The subject matter was a little tough for people here, in Europe it’s a little easier,” Ferrara said. “You can’t let that affect the making of the movie.”

Ferrara was equally unapologetic in response to questions about the violent content of his work.

“I’m just trying to capture what I see and what I know is out there,” he said. “I’m not responsible for hand-holding an audience through 90 minutes.”

Regardless of Ferrara’s responsibility to them, at least one member of the audience was upset by some of the images in his film.

“I was initially disturbed because I’m tired of seeing movies with women portrayed as whores and strippers,” said Amy Dunlap, 26, who works at a nonprofit theater production company in Chicago. “I’m also an actress so I don’t want to play them either.”

However, Dunlap said she did not think the portrayal of women made “New Rose Hotel” unwatchable.

“I did get drawn into the imagery of the story,” she said. “I would probably watch it again.”

Although many people have attempted to temper his films’ disturbing content in the editing room, Ferrara continuously refuses to turn over his artistic license.

“The final cut has got to be yours or it doesn’t matter,” he said. “You’ve got to make the movie that will make you happy.”

The movie that is currently making Ferrara “happy” is called “Go-Go Tales.” The comedy, Ferrara’s first, tells the story of a “guy just trying to keep the dream alive,” he explained.

The show containing his wife’s work is running through mid-November at the David Leonardis Gallery, 1346 N. Paulina St., in Chicago.