2023-05-16 04:40:00
After his ultra-publicized trial against Amber Heard, Johnny Depp is back in “Jeanne du Barry”, the opening film of the Cannes Film Festival.
By QM with AFP
© LOIC VENANCE / AFP
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Lhe 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival opens on Tuesday May 16 by offering a return in the form of rehabilitation to actor Johnny Depp, much disputed since the trials which opposed him to his ex-wife on the background of accusations of domestic violence. The director Maïwenn entrusted him with the main role, that of Louis XV, in Jeanne du Barrythe opening film of the festival, where she plays the king’s favourite.
The return to the Croisette of the American star, who had presented herself as a “victim of the + cancel culture +” and of a post-#MeToo intransigence of the cinema industry with regard to the perpetrators of violence, alleged or recognized, is symbolic. Asked about the choice of the film to open Cannes, the general delegate of the Festival Thierry Frémaux underlined his interest in Depp “as an actor”, whom nothing prohibited from filming, and whose performance in the film is “extraordinary”. “I have only one conduct in life, the freedom to think, to speak, to act within the framework of the law,” he added.
He claims not to have followed the ultra-publicized legal saga which pitted Depp against his ex-wife, actress Amber Heard, with reciprocal accusations of domestic violence and defamation. Johnny Depp ultimately won the defamation trial held in the United States, but Amber Heard had to endure a torrent of misogynistic attacks. And it is finally she who has since disappeared from the public scene, after having “lost faith in the American judicial system”.
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An opening ceremony disrupted by opponents of pension reform?
Asked by Agence France Presse about her decision to hire Johnny Depp, Maïwenn explained that she had filmed “last summer, (when he) was coming out of his second trial. I was full of worries, I said to myself: what will become of his image? “. More broadly, the director (The actresses ball, My king) “knew very well what (she) was exposing herself to by showing an American actor in this role”.
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“We had points in common and I said to myself (…): it is better an actor who gives himself body and soul rather than one who goes there with his fingertips”, she continued. Maïwenn herself has had trouble with the law, having recently attacked the boss of Mediapart Edwy Plenel in a restaurant.
Beyond that, the projection of Jeanne du Barry marks the official start of the 76th edition of the world’s largest film festival, whose opening ceremony will be presented by actress Chiara Mastroianni. Opponents of pension reform could be tempted to use it as a platform while the rise of the steps will be particularly scrutinized around the world. The CGT has promised to “make its cinema” and to use the festival’s media sounding board to express its opposition to the pension reform.
21 films in competition
After the festivities, the race for the Palme d’Or will be launched on Wednesday with the screening of Monsterby Japanese Hirokazu Kore-Eda, who is seeking a second title after A family matter (2018). The jury, chaired by Ruben Östlund, will have met beforehand to give its first press conference.
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Around the Swedish director, who won his second Palme last year with Without Filter : a rejuvenated jury with several thirty-somethings like the American actor Paul Dano (The Fabelmans, There Will Be Blood), his compatriot Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) or the French director Julia Ducournau (Palme d’or 2021 for Titanium). In total, 21 films are in competition, including seven by female directors, a record.
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