The sordid fall of ‘sacred monster' Gerard Depardieu
For decades, Gerard Depardieu seemed able to shrug off any scandal. From intoxicated motorcycle crashes to friendships with despots and being bundled off a flight for drunkenly urinating in the cabin, nothing seemed to derail France's most famous actor and bon vivant.
The rotund film star was, to generations of Frenchmen and women, truly a larger-than-life hero with a boundless appetite and no interest in being bound by society's mores. The apparent charm of his excesses – combined with his performances in more than 250 films, including The Woman Next Door and Cyrano de Bergerac – meant that many of his compatriots were eating out of the palm of his meaty paw.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
AU Financial Review
14-05-2025
- AU Financial Review
The sordid fall of ‘sacred monster' Gerard Depardieu
For decades, Gerard Depardieu seemed able to shrug off any scandal. From intoxicated motorcycle crashes to friendships with despots and being bundled off a flight for drunkenly urinating in the cabin, nothing seemed to derail France's most famous actor and bon vivant. The rotund film star was, to generations of Frenchmen and women, truly a larger-than-life hero with a boundless appetite and no interest in being bound by society's mores. The apparent charm of his excesses – combined with his performances in more than 250 films, including The Woman Next Door and Cyrano de Bergerac – meant that many of his compatriots were eating out of the palm of his meaty paw.
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- News.com.au
Cruise unleashes 'Mission: Impossible' juggernaut at Cannes
Tom Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" powers into the Cannes film festival for its premiere on Wednesday on a steamroller of hype. With some fans fretting that the $400-million epic -- the eighth in the high-octane franchise -- could be the last, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie have been teasing up the tension by dropping contradictory clues about its future. Cruise, 62, has also been sharing heart-stopping footage of the stunts he did for the movie on social media, including discussing a freefall jump from a helicopter at 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). He is seen jumping from the chopper high over a South African mountain range and putting himself into a high-speed spin with a camera strapped to his stomach. The blockbuster is set to ramp up adrenaline levels and promises to somewhat lighten the tone at Cannes. The festival's highly political opening day began with accusations that Hollywood was ignoring "genocide" in Gaza, while the conviction of French screen legend Gerard Depardieu for sexual assault in a Paris court on day one also dampened the mood. Even Cruise's iron-clad optimism has come under stress with the industry shaken by President Donald Trump's threat to stick tariffs on movies "produced in foreign lands". With "Mission: Impossible" among Hollywood's most globalised franchises, shot on a dizzying roster of exotic locations from the Arctic to Venice and Shanghai, Cruise shut down questions about the issue at a promotional event in South Korea last week. Asked about tariffs and the franchise's globetrotting shoots, Cruise said tersely: "We'd rather answer questions about the movie. Thank you." In one glimmer of hope, Trump has said he will make an exception for the James Bond movies -- which are mostly shot in the UK -- because the late 007 Sean Connery once helped him get planning permission for his Scottish golf course. Cruise's franchise also leans heavily on London studios. - Highly-charged - Yet it is likely to be all smiles when the indomitable star bounds up the red carpet at Cannes at 1645 GMT on Wednesday for the premiere. Fans will find out if this really is the end of the road for secret agent Ethan Hunt when "The Final Reckoning" is released in Europe and the Middle East from May 21, with the US and several other countries having to wait two or three days longer. However, Indian, Australian and Korean cinemagoers will be able to see it from the weekend. Director McQuarrie, who wrote the 1993 classic "The Usual Suspects", will also be giving a masterclass earlier in the day at the world's biggest film festival. Veteran US star Robert De Niro will be talking about his long, illustrious career after being awarded a lifetime achievement at Tuesday's often highly-charged opening ceremony. The outspoken Trump critic took the chance to blast the US leader as "America's philistine president". He slammed Trump's film tariff proposal -- which few experts think can be carried through without creating havoc -- as he picked up an honorary Palme d'Or from his friend and sometime co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. "You can't put a price on creativity. But apparently, you can put a tariff on it," De Niro said in a fiery speech in which he urged "everyone who cares about liberty to organise, to protest. "Of course, all these attacks are unacceptable. This is not just an American problem, it is a global one." "In my country we are fighting like hell for democracy," he said, adding that "art embraces diversity. That's why art is a threat. That's why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists." Jury head Juliette Binoche made an emotional tribute to the slain Gaza photographer Fatima Hassouna. The 25-year-old was killed in an Israeli air strike last month along with her family, a day after a documentary about her was selected to premiere at Cannes. "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk", by exiled Iranian director Sepideh Farsi, will be shown on Thursday. "She should have been here tonight with us," the French actor said.
7NEWS
13-05-2025
- 7NEWS
Gerard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault by French court
A Paris court has found actor Gerard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set and handed him an 18-month suspended sentence, with the judge saying he appeared not to have grasped the 'traumatic' impact of his behaviour. In the highest-profile #MeToo case to come before judges in France, Depardieu repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer said he would appeal the court's decision. Depardieu, 76, was a towering figure in French cinema, starring in more than 200 films over five decades, including Green Card, The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac. His trial marked a moment of reckoning for the #MeToo protest movement over sexual violence, which has failed to gain the same traction in France as in the United States, although there are signs that social attitudes are changing. One of the two plaintiffs, Amelie K, a set decorator now aged 54, told the court the actor had groped her all over her body as he trapped her between his legs and made explicit sexual comments on set in 2021. 'I was terrified, he was laughing,' she recounted. Depardieu, who denied sexual assault, had argued before the court that he did not consider placing a hand on a person's buttocks sexual assault and that some women were too easily shocked. Handing down his sentence, the presiding judge, Thierry Donard, said of Depardieu: 'He does not seem to have grasped either the concept of consent or the deleterious and traumatic consequences of his behaviour towards the women he assaulted.' He ordered Depardieu, who was not in court for the verdict, to be put on a list of sex offenders. Depardieu has figured prominently in the debate over the #MeToo movement in France, as he faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations that put a spotlight on how women are treated in the movie industry. Prosecutors say he should face trial in a separate rape investigation following allegations brought by actress Charlotte Arnould, 29, who said she could not bear remaining silent any longer. More than a dozen women have accused Depardieu of sexual violence, though not all have filed complaints. Depardieu has consistently denied wrongdoing. 'Never, absolutely never, have I abused a woman,' he wrote in an open letter in the daily Le Figaro newspaper in October 2023. The Depardieu trial laid bare a generational divide in France over sexism. Earlier during the investigation, a group of 50 French stars, including Carla Bruni, wife of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, denounced what they called the 'lynching' of Depardieu. Brigitte Bardot, 90, told BFM TV this week that 'those who have talent and grope a girl get thrown into the gutter'. Women's rights campaigners say they have seen a shift in attitudes in France — notably following the case of Gisele Pelicot whose ex-husband was convicted last year of inviting dozens of men to rape her after drugging her unconscious. 'It's truly a victory and a step forward. We're making progress,' Amelie K. told reporters after the verdict.
