A very French affair | The underside of the fall of Gérard Depardieu

A very French affair, by Raphaëlle Bacqué and Samuel Blumenfeld, is a true investigation into the excess, abuses and fall of Gérard Depardieu. For decades, the actor reigned over French cinema, and everything was allowed to him: gritty jokes, his drunken states, hands on the buttocks of assistants, technicians or makeup artists. Interview with Raphaëlle Bacqué, daily journalist The world and co-author of the book.

Q: The cinema industry turned a blind eye for a long time to Depardieu’s unacceptable behavior. For what ?

A: The cinema community admired him, because he shot many masterpieces and he was successful; his name alone in the credits made it possible to finance a film. In the 1980s and 1990s, all the major directors sought him out, he toured extensively, he was a must-see and he was the best-known French actor abroad. It is also a symbol for France, because he embodied all the characters who symbolize the country, Danton the hero of the Revolution, Cyrano and Obélix, all these characters have ensured that he is very associated with French society . This is why for a long time, the public, elected officials, elites and politicians defended Depardieu, because to attack him is to attack France. Hence the title of our book, A very French affairbecause it’s true that he symbolized France for a long time until Macron who defended him, wrongly, but he considered that he symbolized the country.

There are two Depardieus, the monster and the genius?

Yes. It wasn’t old age or the enormous power he had that transformed him, he was like that at the start and his power allowed him to impose what he was. He comes from a modest background, he is an autodidact who cultivated himself alone. He has truly made a career for himself thanks to his talent and his will, and paradoxically, he attacks women. He carried on this contradiction continuously throughout his life. The dirty jokes, the obscenities, it’s astonishing. There is a desire to transgress, to humiliate and at the same time, he is capable of a lot of finesse. He would not have been able to indulge in all these attacks, and his almost constant drunkenness, if he had not been a great actor. If he had been mediocre, he would have been fired from the sets.

Is it at the start of his career that the first abuses begin?

Yes, from the start. We were surprised, we thought it was the last few years, but not at all. By investigating, we realized that he transgressed straight away. He has unacceptable behavior with women, but at the time, it was not considered unacceptable. The first testimony is that of Sophie Marceau on the shooting of the film Police (1985). She denounced him publicly and at that time she was already known thanks to the hit film The party. She is very young, 18 years old, and this is the first time that a woman has said very concretely that Depardieu assaulted her. She denounces her behavior and that of director Maurice Pialat. It falls into general indifference and mockery.

What surprises you is that all this happens on set, in front of everyone…?

Yes. He never hid. Unlike many attackers, he always needs an audience, and what is striking is that even in the construction of his character, he exaggerates, he has built his legend around the image of the thug from Chateauroux. This way of behaving, going from the finest poetry to the most vile brutality, was his character and he ended up believing in it and resembling it. We were struck to find images of reports that were made on film sets where we see him handing out hands to buttocks to everyone. It’s on the 8 p.m. news, and it doesn’t cause a scandal. He does it publicly and by laughing, he gets the laughers on his side. He defuses the shock that it can produce and at the time, we find that he is Rabelaisian.

On February 4, 1991, a few weeks before the Oscars where he was selected in the best actor category for Cyrano de Bergeracthe magazine Times comes out this interview he gave in 1978 where he talks about his adolescence in Châteauroux. He says he participated, at the age of 9, in a rape, then in several rapes, and that it was part of his childhood. It’s causing a scandal in the United States, but France is coming to its defense?

France takes its defense and considers that we are attacking a national icon and the whole country is involved. The film Cyrano de Bergerac was nominated for best foreign film that year… and it was the film represented by Harvey Weinstein which won the Oscar (Journey of Hope). Everyone defends himself in France, the public is unanimous and moreover, in France, we forget this interview, because Depardieu continues to film.

There will be a trial next October, Depardieu is indicted for rape. What’s going to happen ?

He may be sentenced to prison. It’s theoretically possible, but as you know, in rape cases it’s complicated. He is indicted for the rape of actress Charlotte Arnould. There are two other women who accuse him of sexual assault on set in 2021. His career is over, he will no longer film, he is now very alone and isolated.

A very French affair

Raphaëlle Bacqué, Samuel Blumenfeld

Albin Michel

179 pages