Does the world’s most famous film festival have a serious man problem?

Does the world’s most famous film festival have a problem with men behaving badly? Or, more to the point, is its problem that it does not have a problem with men behaving badly at all?

That’s the question prompted by the rapturous response Johnny Depp has received following the screening of his French-language movie Jeanne du Barry on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday (French time).

Johnny Depp arrives on the red carpet at Cannes for the opening night premiere of Jean du Barry, alongside director Maiwenn.Credit: Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP

Depp, of course, has spent the past few years embroiled in a bitter and mutually damaging dispute with his ex-wife Amber Heard, in which each accused the other of domestic violence.

It is important to note the 59-year-old actor vigorously denies the claims against him, and while they have been tested in civil court (where each party has had some success, with Depp most recently winning an appeal that will see Heard having to pay him $US1 million in damages), they have never been assessed in criminal hearings.

Still, the mud has stuck. Other than televised court proceedings and a bizarre cameo at the MTV awards in August 2022, in which he dangled from the ceiling in a space suit, Depp has not been seen on screen since being dropped from two major Hollywood franchises, Pirates of the Caribbean and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, three years ago.

Jeanne du Barry is his comeback, and on opening night it was met with a seven-minute standing ovation. Even allowing for the fact such responses are close to de rigueur at Cannes red-carpet events, it must have come as a massive relief.

Nor was the enthusiasm contained to the cinema. Outside, the crowds lining the Croisette screamed their appreciation for his return. There were no protesters to muddy the waters, either; conveniently, the city of Cannes had announced on the weekend that all demonstrations would be banned on public roads for the duration of the festival, in order “to guarantee public order during an exceptionally big and international event”.

If it transpires that we have just witnessed the second coming of Jack Sparrow, the French film industry’s premiere showcase is a fitting location for it. Long after accusations of predatory behaviour or worse had been levelled against Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Gerard Depardieu – who is currently facing a rape charge, and has been accused by 13 other women of sexual harrassment – these men have been invited back.

(That said, Woody Allen’s latest film was not accepted into Cannes this year, with festival director Thierry Fremaux saying if it had been, “the controversy would take over against his film, against the other films”.)

It’s all too much for French actress Adele Haenel, star of the 2019 French art-house hit Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Writing for the media news site Telerama last week, Haenel, who retired from the film business last year in protest at the industry’s failure to act upon the demands of the #MeToo movement, was scathing.

Gerard Depardieu has been accused of multiple sexual offences.

The 34-year-old, who has claimed she was abused by the director Christophe Ruggia between the ages of 12 and 15, accused the industry of “general complacency … vis-a-vis sexual aggressors”, saying the powers that be “join hands (to protect) the Depardieus, the Polanskis (…) It bothers them that the victims make too much noise. They would prefer that we disappear and die in silence.”

According to indiewire, Haenel added that Cannes was “ready to do anything to defend their rapist chiefs”.

That brought a defiant response from Fremaux.

“People use the Cannes Film Festival to talk about world problems. I think it’s fine,” he said. “But you wouldn’t be here complaining that you can’t get tickets if you thought we were all rapists.”

Fremaux added he had no concerns about selecting Jean du Barry for the prestigious opening-night slot, despite the risk of a backlash.

“I don’t know about the image of Johnny Depp in the US,” he said. “To tell you the truth, in my life, I only have one rule, it’s the freedom of thinking, and the freedom of speech and acting within a legal framework.”

You could chalk that up to a resolve to separate the art from the artist, an admirable respect for the presumption of innocence (no criminal charges have ever been proven against Allen or Depardieu, though Polanski was found guilty in the US in 1978 of raping a 13-year-old, fleeing the country before sentencing). Or you could attribute it to a peculiarly Gallic tolerance for the vagaries of human interactions.

It would be premature, though, to assume that one well-received screening in France amounts to a Hollywood comeback for Depp, even if it does come hot on the heels of a renewed contract with Dior for the fragrance Sauvage, for which the actor is expected to earn $US20 million over three years.

The US industry is rather more business than show, and until such time as the studios feel they can cast Depp without provoking a backlash, he will remain in the naughty corner.

You can bet, though, that they’ll be reading the dispatches from France with eager eyes, and ramping up the consumer research at home, just in case.

Find more of the author’s work here. Email him at [e-mail], or follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin.

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