Woody Allen, the famous filmmaker who has been accused of sexually abusing his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow, showed up at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. He was there to show his 50th film, Coup de Chance, a comedy set in Paris starring Lou de Laâge and Valerie Lemercier.
The 87-year-old director got a mixed reaction from the audience and the press, as some praised and clapped for his work, while others shouted and called him an abuser. A small group of protesters tried to stop the red carpet event by yelling “abusers” and fighting with the police. They were quickly taken away from the scene.
Woody Allen says he is lucky and supports #MeToo movement
Allen, who has always said he did not do anything wrong, did not talk about the accusations against him in his interviews. Instead, he talked about his film and his career, saying he had been “very lucky” and “not been punished for things I did badly”. He also said he liked the #MeToo movement, but said it could be “silly” when it was “too extreme”.
Coup de Chance: A comedy about love, cheating and death
Coup de Chance, which means “stroke of luck” in French, is a typical Allen comedy that talks about love, cheating and death. It is about a young woman (de Laâge) who falls in love with a married man (Poupaud) and plans to kill his wife (Lemercier). The film got good reviews from some critics, who said it was Allen’s best work in a decade.
But not everyone liked Allen’s new film. Some critics said the film was old-fashioned, not funny and not aware of the times. They also asked why Allen was given a chance to show his film at a big festival, especially when he was with other directors who have been accused of sexual assault, like Roman Polanski and Luc Besson.
The art vs the artist debate: Can we enjoy Woody Allen’s films without agreeing with his actions?
Allen’s appearance at the Venice Film Festival started the debate again about separating the art from the artist. Can we enjoy his films without agreeing with his actions? Should we ignore his work or give him a chance to explain himself? These are some of the questions that many viewers and critics are thinking about.
Allen’s next project is a TV series for Amazon Prime Video, called Rifkin’s Festival. It stars Christoph Waltz, Gina Gershon and Wallace Shawn. It is not clear when it will come out or whether it will have any problems from the public or the industry.
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