It hasn’t started yet and controversy erupts. A month and a half after the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, the world of cinema is in turmoil. From choosing to open the 76th edition of the prestigious review with the costume film ‘Jeanne Du Barry‘ – with Jonny Deep and Maiwenn Le Bescoboth involved in heavy legal issues related to alleged episodes of violence – to the noisy absence in the competition of the new film by Woody Allena director who has now become divisive for the film star-system after the accusations of sexual assault by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. It won’t even be on the bill Roman Polanski, condemned in the United States for sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. To defend the artistic choices of the organizers of Cannes 2023 (where there will be three Italian films in competition) And Thierry Fremaux, director of the Institut Lumière of Lyon and general delegate of the Festival. The decision to open the prestigious film festival – which will take place from 16 to 27 May – with ‘Jeanne Du Barry’ it would not be “a controversial choice”, according to Frémaux. “If Johnny Depp had been banned from working it would have been different, but is not so. We only know one thing: it’s the justice system and I think it won the lawsuit.” And on the failure to select ‘Coupe de Chance‘, Woody Allen’s romantic thriller, replies: “We know that if your film is shown in Cannes, controversy would ensue, against his film and against the other films”. And then, lapidary, cut it short: in any case, Allen’s film “was not a candidate”.
Deep and Maïwenn: the accusations
Directed by and starring Maïwenn Le Besco, ‘Jeanne du Barry‘ is a biopic about the famous favorite of King Louis XV, executed in 1793 during the French Revolution. With Jonny Deep in the role of the sovereign and Maïwenn in the role of Madame du Barry, the film will open the Cannes festival next May 16th. The film will be screened in world premiere at the Grand Théâtre Lumière and will be released in French cinemas on the same day. It is the first major role for Depp after the defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The first winds of controversy are already rising. Here because. Depp ended up at the center of a thorny legal dispute with his ex-wife Amber Heard, who accused each other of defamation after an interview in which the woman said she was a victim of domestic violence. Deep won the first instance case with a maxi compensation of 10 million dollars, then the couple reached an agreement between the parties before the subsequent appeal. Depp’s reputation has suffered a severe blow, above all due to the unscrupulous trial strategy held by his lawyers. But not only. In the spotlight, in addition to the film, this year there will also be Maiwenn. The director was sued for assault by French journalist Edwy Plenel, who claimed he was attacked in a Paris restaurant last February. “This has nothing to do with the festival – is the comment of Frémaux, contacted by the Guardian – above all we learned of the existence of this complaint after announcing Jeanne du Barry at the Cannes opening“.
Allen and Polanski: ‘cumbersome’ directors
Woody Allen it has now become a cumbersome presence for many. The allegations of sexual assault by her adopted daughter have divided Hollywood: if Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem and Alec Baldwin have defended the director, Kate Winslet, Rebecca Hall, Colin Firth and Michael Caine have instead declared that they will never work with him again. In 2018, the Amazon Studios has terminated the contract with the artist after the allegations of sexual violence made by his daughter Dylan Farrow, always denied by Allen and which led to the filing of two investigations without the formulation of charges against him. For the same reason, the memoir ‘About nothing‘ was then dropped by publisher Hachette and finally published in 2020 by another publishing house. His latest work, ‘Coupe de Chance‘ – the 50th film in the American director’s palmares – is not among the 19 films competing at the Cannes Film Festival. “It has not been selected”, he stressed Thierry Fremauxhinting that the film would not be good enough for the festival, and then added that he “hasn’t seen” even ‘The Palace‘, the new film of the contested Roman Polanski with Fanny Ardant in the cast. Declared guilty of sexual assault against a 13-year-old girl, the United States has requested extradition by Polanski, who currently lives in France. But the French judicial system opposed it. In 2018, the director was expelled from the body of the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the board of directors of Cesar (the most important award of French cinema) resigned after protests received for the nominations assigned to his film ‘The officer and the spy‘. The director’s last appearance at Cannes dates back to 2013 with ‘Venus in fur‘.