Denise Bombardier left her mark by daring to publicly denounce the pedophile actions of author Gabriel Matzneff on the set of the literary show Apostrophesin 1990. To honor their courage, director Vanessa Filho wanted to include this memorable confrontation The Agreementhis shocking film about the Matzneff affair.
Based on the autobiographical novel by Vanessa Springora, Consent hits our screens on Friday after rocking France last autumn. The late Quebec author and journalist's attitude to Bernard Pivot's show is reflected in a key scene in the film, in which the young heroine witnesses the confrontation live on television.
“It was my intention to pay tribute to him,” emphasizes French director Vanessa Filho in an interview via video conference.
“Even before I read Vanessa’s book [Springora]I had seen this sequence [de l’émission Apostrophes] which outraged me. I felt like I was going back three centuries! When I saw this woman speak out with such courage and tenacity, and when I learned that she was subsequently lynched and treated as a tough by the literary director of Le Monde, I was dismayed and shocked. It was really necessary for me to pay tribute to him.”
Screenshot YouTube, INA Culture
Destructive grip
Consent takes us back to the mid-1980s, a time when the writer Gabriel Matzneff [Jean-Paul Rouve]The then 50-year-old met Vanessa (Kim Higelin), a 13-year-old teenager who would become his lover and muse. The film analyzes the mechanisms of the destructive influence that this sexual predator exerted on Vanessa and his other young victims – under the indifferent gaze of the French literary world.
Vanessa Springora's autobiographical book caused a shockwave in France at the time of its publication in January 2020 and even led to the opening of an investigation against Gabriel Matzneff for the rape of a minor.
According to Vanessa Filho, the film made it possible to bring this story – and this social debate – to a younger audience.
“It was great to see how young people accepted the film,” she says happily. After seeing the film in theaters, teenagers took to social media to express their anger and outrage. I really felt like they wanted to see a change and that they couldn’t stand what was happening.”
The film's release in Quebec cinemas comes at a time when the French cinema sector is embroiled in a movement denouncing sexual violence. It is difficult not to draw a connection between Le Consentement and the recent statements of French actress Judith Godrèche, who declared that she lived under the influence of filmmaker Benoît Jacquot when she was just 14 years old.
“I feel like tongues have loosened since what we call the Depardieu affair,” observes Vanessa Filho. With her testimony, Judith Godrèche opened another door and we are not immune to seeing more testimonies emerge. I think this is just the beginning…”
The film Consent opens on February 23rd.