In the French film industry, there are perhaps no two bigger institutions than the Cannes Film Festival and the movie star Gérard Depardieu. And on the first day of this year’s festival, Depardieu, who won the best actor prize here in 1990, was found guilty of sexual assault.
Depardieu’s conviction was seen as a victory for the #MeToo movement in France, which took hold more slowly than in the United States. He was given an 18-month suspended sentence on charges of assaulting two women in 2021 on the set of the movie “Les Volets Verts.”
In the seaside sun of Cannes, Depardieu’s conviction was met with serious consideration by some and a nonchalant shrug by others.
But whatever their view, everybody was talking about it, including at a news conference on Tuesday to introduce the competition jury to the media. Reporters asked Juliette Binoche, the French actress who leads this year’s jury, about the verdict multiple times.
Depardieu’s conviction was a result for the #MeToo movement, she said, which was also having an effect on the inclusion of women in the competition and jury lineup at Cannes. “I think that the festival is increasingly in step with what’s happening today,” Binoche said, adding that in France, “our #MeToo wave took some while to gain strength.”
Many in France took a skeptical view of the movement at first. In a 2018 open letter to Le Monde newspaper, Catherine Deneuve and more than 100 other Frenchwomen in the entertainment industry complained that a wave of public accusations was creating a totalitarian climate.
Binoche was asked on Tuesday about another open letter, published in Le Figaro in 2023, that described Depardieu as a “sacred monster.” Signed by stars including Charlotte Rampling and Carla Bruni, the letter called accusations of sexual abuse against Depardieu a “lynching,” and argued that, “When people attack Gérard Depardieu in this way, they are attacking art.”
“He’s not a monster,” Binoche said, “he’s a man who lost his aura, owing to facts that occurred and were looked at by a court.”
Depardieu had been a Cannes stalwart since 1976, when Bernardo Bertolucci’s historical epic “1900,” in which Depardieu acted opposite Robert De Niro, ran in an out-of-competition slot. He has appeared in nearly 30 movies at the festival and served as jury president in 1992.
On Tuesday evening, at a beach party with free-flowing rosé, Michel Burstein, a publicist from the Paris-based company Bossa Nova, argued for what he called “balance.”
“He’s probably guilty, probably been a very bad man,” Burstein said. “But he has been also more respectful, a man who has achieved an unbelievable work in many domains.”
“It’s complicated,” Burstein said, adding that he knew Depardieu and his brother Alain personally.
Standing nearby, Benjamin Zeitoun, a producer, said he didn’t want to judge. “When you don’t know the thing at the center, really close, it’s not possible to have an opinion,” he said.
This is far from the first time #MeToo has been a talking point at Cannes. In 2018, the actress Asia Argento called the festival Harvey Weinstein’s “hunting ground” in a speech at the closing ceremony. The 2023 edition courted controversy when it opened with “Jeanne du Barry,” a movie starring Johnny Depp, who had just won a defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard, who had accused him of physical and sexual abuse.
Speaking by phone on Wednesday morning, Rupa Dash, the chief executive of the World Woman Foundation, which is running an event at a Cannes hotel during the festival, said Depardieu’s conviction was “definitely a win” for the #MeToo movement, but was downplayed on the main stage of the festival.
“I think like everybody knows about it in Cannes,” she said, “but it seems like these conversations are always on the sidelines.”
The festival’s director, Thierry Frémaux, was asked at a news conference on Monday whether Depardieu would be invited back to Cannes — the day before Depardieu was convicted. Frémaux skirted the question. “I respect the legal system of my country, I will simply note the decision handed down by the court,” he said, according to a report by Screen Daily.
“The festival, and you, and public opinion — we have to deal with this on a case-by-case basis,” Frémaux said, adding that he was happy that he was being asked about this the day before the verdict, and not after.
The Cannes press office did not reply to a request for comment.
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