French broadcaster France Televisions has been blamed by supporters of Gerard Depardieu, the Oscar-nominated actor of “Cyrano de Bergerac,” for contributing to the downfall of considered one of nation’s most iconic actors with a bombshell documentary about his historical past of sexual abuse allegations which aired on Dec. 7.
The broadcaster’s head of movie and worldwide co-production, Manuel Alduy, tells Selection the TV group doesn’t have any agenda in opposition to Depardieu, nonetheless, and gained’t boycott his movies. “We won’t ban movies, however we gained’t have a good time artists who’ve been accused till they’re fully cleared,” says Alduy, who joined France Televisions in 2021 after working at Twentieth Century Fox and Canal+ Group.
“Movies are collective artistic endeavors and Depardieu occurs to have starred in additional than 100 movies, together with some classics of French cinema,” says Alduy. “It will be unfair for these movies and for rights holders if we banned them, and it could be a harmful slippery slope.” The broadcaster will, as an illustration, program a number of movies by Francois Truffaut subsequent yr to mark the anniversary of the revered auteur’s dying. The retrospective will seemingly embrace “The Final Metro,” during which Depardieu stars reverse Catherine Deneuve.
The 74-year outdated actor, identified additionally to American audiences for starring reverse Andie MacDowell in 1990’s “Inexperienced Card,” was indicted on Dec. 16, 2020 concerning allegations of rape and sexual assault tied to a 2018 lawsuit filed by actor Charlotte Arnould, however that one case wasn’t sufficient to derail his profession and tarnish his enormous reputation in France. A yr after the indictment, Depardieu appeared in a movie that opened Cannes’ Critics Week, “Robuste,” a small film directed by Constance Meyer during which he performs a grumpy actor. Nevertheless, when a dozen extra alleged victims spoke out as a part of an investigative piece which ran in Mediapart in April, Depardieu’s fame lastly took a success and roles grew to become scarcer.
The December documentary, titled “The Fall of an Ogre,” during which Depardieu is seen making crude, sexual and misogynistic jokes on digital camera, together with one involving a toddler driving a pony, has sparked widespread outrage in France. The docu additionally included testimonies of alleged victims corresponding to Emmanuelle Debever, who was reported useless on the day of its broadcast in an obvious suicide after leaping from a bridge into the Seine river in Paris.
On prime of triggering a contemporary wave of #MeToo stories within the nation, the controversy over Depardieu has divided the French authorities. President Emmanuel Macron mentioned on the primetime present “C’est à Vous” that Depardieu “makes France proud,” in the identical week that the Tradition Minister Rima Abdul Malak had advised his Legion of Honor might be revoked amid the sexual assault accusations.
Alduy says that whereas France Televisions “hasn’t determined to by no means once more broadcast movies starring Gerard Depardieu, our mandate is to not have a good time him.” For that motive, France Televisions canceled broadcast of two current Depardieu films, “Robuste” and Lucas Belvaux’s “Des Hommes,” which had been scheduled to air in the course of the Cannes Movie Competition.
“We pulled these two films from our programming after the investigation got here out in Mediapart as a result of if we hadn’t executed something, individuals would have rightfully thought of that we had been detached or impartial, which might have been unsuitable as a result of these accusations are very severe and we don’t need to have a good time artists in these situations,” Alduy says.
However Alduy says a lot of films starring Depardieu have aired because the summer season, notably “Mystère à Saint-Tropez,” in addition to classics corresponding to “La chèvre” (“Knock on Wooden”) directed by Francis Veber. “It was superb as a result of they weren’t a part of any particular — or celebratory — programming,” he says.
The opposite concern, Alduy factors out, is whether or not Depardieu will proceed to get appearing roles. “If the event introduced itself, we’d ask the producers, ‘what assure are you able to present that there gained’t be any concern throughout filming?’ as a result of we are able to’t keep silent when individuals are complaining, both for sexual assault or sexist habits,” Alduy says.
France Televisions hasn’t obtained any new tasks with Depardieu hooked up for the final six months, says Alduy. “We don’t anticipate that to alter anytime quickly as a result of it could be tough to finance a movie with Depardieu now.”
