While his new film Finally, with Kad Meradhas just been released, the director Claude Lelouch has been under fire since his appearance on the set of L’heure des pros by Pascal Praud, on CNewson Wednesday November 13. Asked about his vision of the couple and fidelity, Claude Lelouch replied that “married women should thank their mistresses. Very often, when we go elsewhere, we’re happy to come home.”
He went even further, comparing a woman to various objects: “When I say that you’re faithful until you find something better, it’s true whether it’s a car, a woman, a fridge, anything…”.
“I beg your pardon”
These statements obviously provoked a reaction from viewers, who saw them as an eminently sexist and retrograde message. At a time when the film industry is trying to redeem itself after the “I’m sorry! #MeTooThis release from one of France’s most prolific filmmakers comes at a particularly bad time.
Faced with the outcry, Claude Lelouch expressed his regrets on Friday November 15 in a message posted on X: “On a television set, I explained for half an hour that women had made me grow up, that I owed them everything, that love came through admiration. All my life, I’ve repeated that women are successful men. But it’s only words taken out of context that have been repeated everywhere, and that saddens me deeply. I’ve always respected women, those to whom I’ve dedicated 51 films, and even more so in my latest. My inappropriate and clumsy comments have hurt, and I apologize.
I’m not sure that this apology will be enough to reassure some of the public. Especially since the director and companion of the best-selling author Valérie Perrin last week presided over the “Rencontres cinématographiques de l’ARP” in Le Touquet, an event at which a roundtable discussion was organized on the following topics reflect on the fight against sexist and sexual violence in French cinema.