With all the headlines dedicated to the #MeToo movement over the past few years, it can sometimes feel like the industry has made progress — certainly, enough to launch several biopics and television shows about its own misconduct. But this is still a time when “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” actress Adèle Haenel feels compelled to quit the French film industry in protest, and when the director of the Cannes Film Festival feels the need to say, out loud, that Cannes is not a “festival for rapists.”
READ MORE: Cannes Director Says Event Is Not “A Festival For Rapists”
Needless to say, there’s still work to be done, and it’s good that these conversations continue to happen – especially when they involve an icon of the French film industry, Marion Cotillard. In an interview with Deadline at the Cannes Film Festival, the actress shared thoughts about her latest film, “Little Girl Blue,” and how it addresses the threats of violence women have always faced in their relationships with men. That sparked a conversation about the #MeToo movement, which Cotillard claimed has created some progress – even though there is, as she puts it, “still a long way to go.”
“I always have in mind this woman who goes to another march, another walk with her sign saying, “I can’t believe I’m still here dealing with this shit,” the actresses said. Cotillard also shared that her career had caused her to be in “situations that I shouldn’t have been in,” and that there still are some sick people – men and women – who want to take of advantage of actors and the fact that “we depend on the desire of directors, producers.”
However, while Cotillard pulls no punches regarding the film industry’s enduring challenges, she believes that the #MeToo movement has given the new generation the confidence to push back against untoward advances. “To know that today those young actresses know that this is not right, that if someone asks you something that you’re not comfortable with you can say ‘No,’” she added. “I didn’t know that when I was a young actress, it was a very different time.”
Cotillard’s comments also reinforce the recency of the #MeToo movement. These are not moments lifted from Old Hollywood; Cotillard’s acting career began in earnest in the late ’90s, which means that the issues faced by women in Hollywood barely qualify as a generation old. While progress often comes in increments, it is good to remember that this is a present-tense problem in Hollywood. When people like Cotillard refer to this as a “very different time,” they still refer to the last two decades of filmmaking. So these conversations matter as much now, even if our cultural memory attempts to move on.
Follow along with all our coverage from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival
