カンヌ映画祭開幕、ジョニー・デップの参加が物議

【カンヌＡＦＰ＝時事】第７６回カンヌ国際映画祭が１６日、フランス・カンヌで開幕した。レッドカーペットには俳優のジョニー・デップの姿もあったが、デップの参加は物議を醸している。（写真は第７６回カンヌ国際映画祭で『Ｊｅａｎｎｅ ｄｕ Ｂａｒｒｙ（原題）』の上映会に到着した俳優のジョニー・デップ）
　デップは、元妻で俳優のアンバー・ハードとの法廷闘争でアルコールと薬物依存、ドメスティックバイオレンス（ＤＶ）疑惑など私生活が取りざたされ、今も物議を醸している。
　だが、米娯楽誌バラエティの先週の報道によると、ディオールの香水の広告塔として２０００万ドル（約２７億円）という過去最高額の契約を結び、年内にアル・パチーノが出演するアメデオ・モディリアーニの伝記映画の監督を務めるなど、「キャンセルカルチャー（著名人などが言動を理由に批判・排斥される風潮）」とは無縁だ。
　映画祭のオープニングを飾ったのは、デップがフランス国王ルイ１５世を演じた『Ｊｅａｎｎｅ ｄｕ Ｂａｒｒｙ（原題）』。オープニング作品の選定については、これまでも疑問視されてきた。
　同作はコンペティション部門には出品されていないが、最高賞「パルムドール」の審査員には、デップの参加について質問が飛んだ。
　性暴力の告発運動「＃ＭｅＴｏｏ（私も）」支持を表明している俳優のブリー・ラーソンは動揺した様子で「なぜ、わざわざ私に？」「それについては、よく分からない」とコメントした。
　映画祭の総代表を務めるティエリー・フレモー氏は１５日、「私が関心を持っているのは俳優としてのデップだ」と述べた。
　一方、仏映画産業関係者のグループは、カンヌ映画祭は「暴行する人間をレッドカーペットを敷いて歓待している」と非難した。ネットでも、デップの招待に怒りの声が上がっている。
　レッドカーペットにはこのほか、ユマ・サーマン、ヘレン・ミレン、エル・ファニングらが登場し、ファンの声援を受けた。
　パルムドールを競うコンペティション部門２１本のうち、女性監督の作品は過去最多の７本。他に英国のケン・ローチ監督、是枝裕和監督、ドイツのヴィム・ヴェンダース監督ら、パルムドール受賞経験者による作品も出品されている。
　映画祭は今月２７日に閉幕する。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/17-17:23）

Johnny Depp was feted by fans on Tuesday as he arrived on the red carpet for the screening of his comeback movie at the opening of the Cannes Film Festival, which has sparked anger over the choice to celebrate the divisive megastar.
Depp, 59, sporting a ponytail and shades, spent several minutes schmoozing with screaming fans, posing for selfies and signing autographs, before the screening of French period drama Jeanne du Barry, in which he plays King Louis XV.
He joined stars such as Uma Thurman, Helen Mirren -- her hair a witchy stack of blue and velvet -- and Elle Fanning, for the first night of the industry shindig on the French Riviera.
Michael Douglas also received an honorary Palme d'Or, with the 78-year-old joking about the fact he is two years older than the festival.
This means so much to me because there are hundreds of festivals around the world but there's only one Cannes, he said.
While 21 films from around the globe are competing for the Palme d'Or -- the festival's top prize -- there have repeated questions over its choice of opening film.
Depp remains a controversial figure since toxic court battles with ex-wife Amber Heard that revealed a turbulent private life involving alcohol, drugs and domestic abuse allegations.
But he is a long way from being cancelled, securing a record $20 million deal to remain the face of Dior fragrance, according to Variety last week, and set to direct Al Pacino in a biopic of artist Amedeo Modigliani later this year.
- 'Violence in creative circles' -
Although his new film is playing out of competition, the jury for the Palme d'Or was asked about Depp's presence.
Jury member Brie Larson, star of Captain Marvel and an outspoken MeToo supporter, looked flustered.
You are asking me that? I don't understand... Why me specifically? she said.
I don't know how I feel about it, she added, curtly.
But there was plenty of anger online, with a friend of Heard, journalist Eve Barlow, starting a new hashtag -- #CannesYouNot -- criticising the decision to invite Depp.
Cannes seem proud of their history supporting rapists and abusers, Barlow wrote on Instagram, with pictures of Depp alongside past Cannes regulars such as Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu -- all of whom have faced sexual assault allegations.
On Monday, festival director Thierry Fremaux said he was not interested in Depp's legal woes, saying: I am interested in Depp the actor.
A group of 123 French film industry workers also denounced the festival for rolling out the red carpet to men and women who commit assaults.
- 'Greatest film prize' -
Jury chief Ruben Ostlund, who won the top prize last year, described the Palme as the greatest film prize in the world. If I can choose between an Oscar and a Palme, it is an easy choice.
Of the films in the running for the award, a record seven have been directed by women.
Several Palme laureates are back in competition, including Britain's two-time winner Ken Loach, Japan's Hirokazu Kore-eda and Germany's Wim Wenders.
The festival, which runs until May 27, includes a slew of hot-ticket premieres, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, the fifth and final outing for Harrison Ford as the whip-cracking archaeologist, and Martin Scorsese's new epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.
Around a thousand police and security guards are in place for the festival, amid fears of protests linked to President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reforms, with the CGT union even threatening to cut power.