Thierry Fremaux Defends Abdelatif Kechiche and the “Male Gaze”

French-Tunisian filmmaker Abdellatif Kechiche will be shooting his next film in Sète this summer. A famous French actress is said to be the lead of this secretive new film, which will be the eight of his career.

Last time we saw a film from Kechiche was at Cannes 2019, when “Mektoub, My love: Intermezzo” shocked the Croisette. The film featured a 13-minute unsimulated sex scene where actress Ophélie Bau received oral sex from actor Roméo de Lacour.

Shortly before the film premiered at Cannes a report broke that Kechiche pressured the actors involved to consume alcohol to finish the scene despite their reluctance to do so.

Bau attended the premiere of the film but left before the screening and did not attend a press conference for the film. In 2020 she revealed that she refused to attend the screening because she had requested Kechiche allow her to view the sex scene in question at a private screening before the film was publicly shown, a request which he denied.

Kechiche seemed to have regrets regarding the film being shown at Cannes (when the film was "not finished, not mixed, not totally color-corrected"). He stated that if he knew at the time that the principal actors would boycot the premiere, he would not have shown it on the Croisette. The sexually explicit 212 minute film has still not been released anywhere in France or the United States. It’s now the stuff of legend.

Kechiche claims to have been the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by the French media and Bau’s agent, adding that their sole purpose is to destroy his career.

He’s also iterated Bau was more than happy to take the role and show her body in all it’s beauty, and that she specifically requested a change in actors for the cunnilingus scene in order to perform it with her boyfriend.

He is still editing the final two films of his ‘Mektoub’ trilogy, (including ‘Intermezzo’), but there has still been no indication that they will be released anytime soon.

Every year, as Cannes approaches, people keep wondering if the third ‘Mektoub’ will be part of the lineup. Maybe next year?

Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux has stayed fairly silent in regards to Kechiche and the wild controversy that occurred in 2019 with ‘Intermezzo,’ but I did find this nugget where he actually defended the filmmaker during the pandemic:

Kechiche with “Blue is the Warmest Color” was raved and complimented, he’s one of the great French filmmakers. We live in a time where we judge intentions. Kechiche shoots his women as queens in night clubs. He films their bodies, their behinds, their breasts. So, today it’s now impossible for a male filmmaker to do that. That’s where the politically correct movement comes in.

Basically, what Fremaux is referring to is the “male gaze.” It's much harder now for a male director to depict sex on screen without being accused of using his own "male gaze.” There’s now a ton of pressure for male directors to depict the female body in non-offensive [and safe] ways.

It’s quite clear, just by watching his films, that Kechiche loves the female body. He can’t help it.

If you remember, Kechiche’s Palme d’Or winning “Blue is the Warmest Color” had a similar controversy back in 2013 when its stars, Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos, accused the director of taking advantage of them on-set, both describing the experience as "horrible," and vowing to never work with him again. The whole controversy stemmed from the actresses admitting that they felt “forced” to perform the, now infamous, 13 minute graphic sex scene.

Last month when both Seydoux and Exarchopoulos were interviewed for the 10th anniversary of ‘Blue,’ neither actor said no when asked whether they would ever want to work again with Kechiche. In fact, Exarchopoulos blatantly said that she would.

Kechiche has always had a keen eye for the way people speak and act in real life. As you watch these two Mektoub films, you do wonder how much of it is improvisation, how much of it is written dialogue and how much of it may very well have been actually experienced on camera. That blurring of the lines is absolutely fascinating to watch in this film.