Paris – Paris (AP) – Gerard Depardio Once it looks larger than France itself. Through its huge frame, its twisted nose, and the volcanic charisma, the cinema was judged for half a century – a familiar national icon like the French loaf.
But this week, the actor who starred in more than 230 films – who inspired the writer John Odik to lament, “I think I will not watch a French movie without DePardieu” – sat on the bone calendar stools in a courtroom in Paris.
He faces two charges of sexual assault. If convicted, he may face imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of 75,000 euros ($ 81,000).
But more than Depaardieu in the trial.
For many in FranceThis situation represents the country Final Litmus test – A question not only with guilt or innocence, but it is prepared. Can the nation famous for its culture – and has long been criticized to protect its male artists – finally one of them is responsible?
Depardieu, 76, accused of touching two women – a group treasury and assistant – during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” in 2021 (“Green Projects”). According to complaints and witnesses, one woman was trapped with his legs, grabbed her breasts and eyes, and shouted: “I cannot even get it because of this heat!” Before she was brilliantly invited to touch the “big umbrella”.
He denies all allegations. He wrote in Le Figaro: “Never, but never abused a woman’s misuse.” “I was not guilty except to be very loving, very generous, or a very strong mood.”
But this is the first time that one of the accusations that exceed 20 against it arrived at the court.
Once a symbol of the creative power of France, the DePardieu profession now remains delaying the late nation #Me too. The court hall has become the stage for a deeper thing: a country that finally faces the myths that have long told it about art, power and male genius.
Born in 1948 a family of the working class in the Chaturox, the ascension of DePardieu was the legend. In adolescence affected without official education, he drifted into acting and exploded on the French theater with “Les Valseuses” (“Going Places”), a 1974 movie that provokes that it is still prohibited in some countries.
From there came the obliteration of the strikes: “Jean de Floret”, “Cyrano De BergeraC”, “Card Green”, “The Last Metro”, and “Danton”. He won the Golden Globe Award, Oscar nomination, and loved millions. He played the role of Columbus, Jean Valgian and even Obilix in “ASTERIX” films. It was a prolific production, everywhere – messy, magnetic, cannot be prejudiced.
But the surplus was real outside the screen. His motorcycle was destroyed while he was drunk, I accepted a Russian passport from Vladimir Putin During a tax dispute, once urinated in the plane corridor. Show his appetite. France seemed to release them.
The legend – from the beloved brute – is now collapsing.
In Hollywood, #Metoo overthrew mourners. In France, the movement was cautious. when # (“” Your Pig’s Detection “) in 2017, shook the image of the country-especially in the arts, as the seduction and transgression were long celebrated.
Some warned that #Metoo was killing romance. In 2018, the legend of the screen Catherine Deniov and 99 other prominent French women have published an open letter In Le Monde, the movement reprimanded to go, with their words, “very far”. They defended La Liberté d’aghuner – “Freedom to annoy” – as a French life, defend men’s right to pursue women without fear of the result. For many, it seemed more like defending the flirtation from Slide permission to harassmentTied in perfumes and nostalgia.
Even President Emmanuel Macron chanted feelings. In December 2023 – shortly after broadcasting a documentary movie shots from DePardieu gave sexual comments about a young girl in North Korea – North Korea – Macron defended the actor on national televisionCondemning the reverse reaction as a “restaurant”. “Gerard Depardio makes France proud,” he said.
The observation sparked national anger – not only for its timing, but when it revealed it: the instinct of protecting cultural giants, regardless of the cost.
France’s reluctance to face sexual misconduct between its stars has long dismantled it.
Roman Polanski, convicted of legal rape in the United States and accused by many other women, continues to work and live freely in France. In 2020, for him Pay the victory of the Cesar Award in the path – But also permanent applause. There was little institutional pressure.
In 2022, Johnny Depp was dropped from the Disney “Pirates of the Caribbean” after the allegations of home abuse by the former wife Amber ( It has been greatly justified ).
However, in France, he embraced.
In 2023, Louis XV played in Jin de Barry, the opening film at the French Cannes Festival. The French fashion house Dior was not only left on the face of Savage-and he signed a multi-numbers deal in 2022.
Depardieu experience is not the only case that shakes French cinema. In recent months, a series of prominent convictions indicated that the shield of fame may eventually crack.
In February, Director Christophe Roger Actress condemned Adele Heinil’s sexual abuse when she was a child.
Actor Director Nicholas Bidos was sentenced to 2024 For sexual assault.
In the same year, actress Judith Godrich witnessed a parliamentary committee, accusing two famous managers for adolescence. “This is not a matter of desire,” she told the legislators. “It is about power. About silence. About a system that protects itself.”
That same committee has since summoned major representatives – including Jean Dujardin, because of the “artist” fame. According to what some were asked to testify behind the closed doors.
Anouk Grinberg, who appeared in “Les Volets Verts”, has publicly supported the two accused women. She said: “What I saw in the group was not seduction.” “It was shameful.”
The issue has become a national mirror – which reflects everything that France endured, rejected, and impossible.
On the Parisian sidewalks, opinions still diverge. “We are losing our culture in flirting,” said Alan Morel, 62, who is sipping Espears in a café near the De Triumphi. “The flirtation is not a crime – it’s part of who we are.”
But on the street, she shook the 28 -year -old student Yasmine Bensalem. “We called it magic,” she said. “But he was always on power.”
The trial continues. Depardieu, which suffers from diabetes and heart disease, attends medical accommodations. His lawyer claims that the case is a political revenge – a conspiracy “made DePardieu fall”.
But whether or not it has been convicted, the deepest judgment is already ongoing.
For decades, France artists were seen as not surveyed – their genius shield. This shield is a cracking. The legend dies. In its place, the question rises:
Can France finally keep its strongest men?
This is not just the trial of DePardieu. This is the trial of a country – and whether its incomplete revolution will finally end.