C.Martel
14th May 2025, 03:50 PM
'It represents a seismic change': What Gérard Depardieu's conviction means for France
It couldn't have been timed more dramatically if it had been written into a film script. The world's most famous film festival, in Cannes, began on the same day that Gérard Depardieu, one of the biggest film stars France has ever produced, was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the film set of a 2021 film, The Green Shutters, who described him groping them while using obscene language. "The giants of cinema are no longer untouchable," exclaimed one French news website, while another said that the news had "shaken up" the start of the iconic festival, from where I am currently reporting.
A few days before Depardieu's conviction, the 90-year-old Bardot publicly called the actor a "genius" on French TV, and deplored that "talented people who touch the bottom of a girl are consigned to the deepest dungeon". But this kind of attitude is seen by the young as archaic, says Jackson, and they are less aware of his reputation as a great actor.
"For people over the age of perhaps 50 and 60, Depardieu evokes memories of being a great actor of a certain era, but I don't know how many younger people are interested in that story anymore," she says.
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250514-what-gerard-depardieus-conviction-means-for-france
It couldn't have been timed more dramatically if it had been written into a film script. The world's most famous film festival, in Cannes, began on the same day that Gérard Depardieu, one of the biggest film stars France has ever produced, was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on the film set of a 2021 film, The Green Shutters, who described him groping them while using obscene language. "The giants of cinema are no longer untouchable," exclaimed one French news website, while another said that the news had "shaken up" the start of the iconic festival, from where I am currently reporting.
A few days before Depardieu's conviction, the 90-year-old Bardot publicly called the actor a "genius" on French TV, and deplored that "talented people who touch the bottom of a girl are consigned to the deepest dungeon". But this kind of attitude is seen by the young as archaic, says Jackson, and they are less aware of his reputation as a great actor.
"For people over the age of perhaps 50 and 60, Depardieu evokes memories of being a great actor of a certain era, but I don't know how many younger people are interested in that story anymore," she says.
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250514-what-gerard-depardieus-conviction-means-for-france