PARIS (AP) — For highly effective males in France’s movie trade, this was every week of reckoning.
Gérard Depardieu — the nation’s most well-known actor — was convicted of sexual assault. Two days later, the Cannes Movie Competition barred one other actor accused of rape from strolling the pink carpet.
Collectively, the selections despatched a message France had lengthy resisted: that creative brilliance could now not defend those that abuse their energy.
For many years, Depardieu was revered as French cinema’s “sacred monster” — a towering expertise whose gluttony, volatility, and magnetism turned a part of his delusion. With greater than 250 movies to his title, many believed he would stay untouchable even after greater than 20 ladies accused him of sexual misconduct.
Now, that delusion has cracked. The decision has revived a broader query France has ducked for the reason that daybreak of #MeToo: Can a rustic that celebrates seduction and irreverence lastly maintain its male icons to account?
France has lengthy lived its personal #MeToo contradiction with a long-held perception in “l’exception culturelle.” That expertise, appeal, or mind forgives misconduct and the artwork excuses the artist. Catherine Deneuve has defended “the freedom to bother,” while Brigitte Bardot has dismissed feminism outright: “Feminism isn’t my thing. I like men.”
However the floor is shifting — quick.
Cannes’ seismic shift
Depardieu was handed an 18-month suspended sentence Tuesday for groping two ladies on a 2021 movie set. He denies the costs and is interesting.
“It’s the end of impunity of artists with a capital A,” Carine Durrieu Diebolt, a lawyer for one of many two ladies who received their case towards Depardieu, advised The Related Press. The decision represented “a bookend for putting actors on a pedestal because they were talented,” she added.
Two days later, the distinguished Cannes Movie Competition barred actor Théo Navarro-Mussy — accused of rape by three former companions — from attending the premiere of a movie he stars in. Although the file was dropped for lack of proof, the ladies are relaunching their case as a civil grievance.
Navarro-Mussy denies wrongdoing. His lawyer stated she’s unaware of any ongoing proceedings towards him.
What shocked wasn’t simply the choice, however who made it. Cannes director Thierry Frémaux had lengthy been seen as emblematic of the previous guard. He defended Roman Polanski for years and continued to display his movies regardless of the director’s 1977 responsible plea within the U.S. for intercourse with a 13-year-old. In 2018, when requested why Cannes nonetheless included Polanski, Frémaux stated: “These are complicated matters.”
Frémaux opened 2023’s pageant with a movie starring Johnny Depp, regardless of the actor’s extremely public authorized battle with ex-wife Amber Heard over allegations of home abuse, through which he was by no means criminally charged. When requested in regards to the backlash, Frémaux replied: “I only have one rule: it’s the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework.”
This week, the foundations modified.
“The Cannes decision is of course linked to the Depardieu verdict,” stated Céline Piques of Osez le féminisme (“Dare Feminism!”), a bunch that campaigns towards sexual violence. “(They’ve) realized which way the wind is blowing. Frémaux is trying to right the wrongs.”
Resistance stays
Not everybody welcomed the decision — or what adopted — as a cultural turning level.
Fanny Ardant, one in all French cinema’s grandes dames and a longtime pal of Depardieu, sat on his facet in courtroom. She is now directing him in a movie in Portugal, regardless of the conviction.
“Fanny Ardant? She completely missed the point,” stated Piques. “She downplayed the violence, normalized it. That’s rape culture, plain and simple.”
Juliette Binoche, Cannes jury president and one in all France’s most revered actresses, struck a be aware of restraint: “He’s not a monster. He’s a man — one who has, apparently, been desacralized.”
A justice system slowly opening
In 2024, greater than 22,000 rapes have been reported in France. Fewer than 3% led to convictions. “The Depardieu verdict shows there’s progress,” stated lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens, who works with victims of sexual assault. “But for most women, the barriers to justice remain enormous.”
When Bertrand Cantat — frontman of Noir Désir and as soon as one in all France’s bestselling rock singers — launched a 2018 comeback tour, he had served simply 4 years in jail for killing his companion, actress Marie Trintignant, throughout a violent assault.
Regardless of public outrage, he returned to the stage and carried out.
“That would be unthinkable today,” stated Piques. “The public mood has changed. What we tolerate has changed.”
The shift in disgrace
One breakthrough got here not in cinema, however in a Bordeaux courtroom. The conviction of 51 males for drugging and raping Gisele Pelicot — a case lengthy ignored regardless of her pleas — marked a turning level. For years, disgrace was hers. Now, it belongs to the perpetrators.
“It proved rapists aren’t just strangers in alleys,” stated Piques. “They’re husbands. Colleagues. Respected men.”
Different latest convictions in leisure included director Christophe Ruggia, who was convicted of abusing actress Adèle Haenel when she was a minor, although he’s interesting; and actor-director Nicolas Bedos, who was sentenced for sexual assault.
So did #MeToo win?
Slowly however certainly, sure. The system that lengthy protected males like Depardieu just isn’t but dismantled, however it’s shifting.
As one of many actor’s accusers stated by means of tears after the ruling: “I’m very, very much satisfied with the decision. That’s a victory for me, really. And a big progress, a step forward. I feel justice was made.”
