Cannes is considered the world's largest film festival, held in the city of the same name in southeastern France, located near the Mediterranean Sea, every May. The event is famous for its philosophy of putting art first, encouraging and promoting creativity. And throughout its history of more than 7 decades of existence, the topic of sex and Cannes are considered two inseparable elements.
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Cannes Film Festival is the focus of attention in the world entertainment industry.
Sex – an eternal topic at Cannes
According to Guardian & Mail magazine, films filled with lust are always a hot topic at Cannes. For a long time, the most prestigious film festival in the world has been famous for bold, shocking works that exploit this topic. The reason Cannes Film Festival often causes controversy is because the organizers always promote creativity, calling on directors to bring films with a personal touch.
In 1961, the show's jury created a stir when it awarded the Palme d'Or to Viridiana – a film by prominent Spanish director Luis Buñuel. The script is about a beautiful young girl of the same name who is preparing to take the final steps to become a nun. Before performing the most important ritual, Viridiana visits her wealthy, reclusive uncle. Here, she was drugged with coffee by this person. When she regained consciousness, Viridiana's uncle admitted that he had committed an immoral act, marrying the thousand gold and at the same time making her no longer eligible to become a monk.
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Viridiana – one of the most controversial films in world cinema history.
Viridiana's content angered a large audience at Cannes and many Catholic organizations. L'Osservatore Romano – the Vatican's official newspaper – also criticized the work as “a blasphemy against God”. The film was also banned from being shown in its home country of Spain until 1977. According to the producers, the country's authorities even asked to destroy the film copy of the project. The work still exists today thanks to some foreign post-production companies still preserving it.
Right next season, Cannes Film Festival continued to select another controversial project Mondo Cane into the Golden Globe nomination list. The film, co-directed by Paolo Cavara, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi, gathers documentary footage about bizarre sexual rituals around the world. This is also considered the first work in the shockumentary genre (documentary with shocking content) introduced to a global audience. When faced with a series of criticisms from public opinion, the film's directors only explained: “All the scenes you see are real. If they're shocking, it means this world has a lot of scary things going on.”
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Mondo Cane is another Cannes film that explores sexual themes that shocked the world of cinema.
In recent years, controversial films exploiting sexual themes in Cannes have only shown signs of increasing, not decreasing. In 2015, director Gaspar Noé's work Love caused a stir when it contained real sex scenes of actors on screen. The director of the project also proudly said: “This is a movie that can make men feel excited, and women can cry.”
Titane – winner of the 2021 Palme d'Or – also made film enthusiasts panic when exploiting the story of the female lead having a strange sexual interest in cars. The BBC is not exaggerating when it calls this “The most shocking movie of the year”.
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival has just gone through its first days but has already introduced a series of works that have consumed a lot of media attention. The movie Megalopolis directed by Francis Ford Coppola brings a series of shocking scenes, with the highlight being a segment likened to a sex tape between two famous stars Adam Driver and Shia LaBeouf. Kinds of Kindness – Emma Stone's latest movie project – even caused many audiences to run away from the theater because of its scary content and too many hot scenes.
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The Cannes Film Festival has just launched, but there are already many thorny and difficult-to-watch works on the subject of sex.
However, from an artistic perspective, many of these works are highly appreciated by experts. Many of the projects named above are also included in the list of the best movies of all time by units such as the British Film Institute and the US Library of Congress, ranking them in need of preservation. Therefore, there is also an opinion that the “open-mindedness” of the Cannes organizing committee is somewhat well-founded, pushing directors to go out of their comfort zones and bring to the public works with bold marks. . The appearance of many shocking and offensive films is also considered an unavoidable “side effect” of this direction.
Noisy stories outside the screen
For a long time, fame, wealth and desire have always been the characteristics that festival organizers aim for. This place is likened to a “vanity fair” in real life, when just the stories of joy, anger, and love behind the scenes are enough for the media to exploit for a long time. Cannes has always been known as the cradle that attracts young, beautiful, not-so-famous actors looking for opportunities to change their lives. According to Hollywood Reporter, many girls are willing to “sell their bodies” in exchange for supporting roles in movies, accompanied by a visa to the US. These people are encouraged by their managers to create outrageous and sexy outfits to attract the attention of the media and big manufacturers.
Every year, people can see a large number of such girls appearing on Croisette Avenue, a romantic coastal road in Cannes. In 1953, star Brigitte Bardot (then only 18 years old) became the subject of controversy when she posed in a bikini for a photo shoot with actor Kirk Douglas. Exactly one year later, Egyptian-born actress Simone Silva even “played big” when she stood shirtless and posed next to American star Robert Mitchum.
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Simone Silva's controversial actions at the Cannes Film Festival.
The issue of sexuality is also a recurring topic at this festival every year. Some people once commented that this is a place where “buying sex is easier than ordering pizza”. The Daily Mail also called the second largest industry in Cannes after movies is sex. Many prostitutes also see this as a life-changing opportunity if they meet generous producers who are willing to invest in them to become actresses. At the same time, many famous stars have revealed stories about going to Cannes to spend the night with rich people to make money.
Cannes Film Festival is also often criticized by many social activists for being suspected of tolerating artists involved in sex scandals. Most prominent is “Hollywood mogul” Harvey Weinstein – who was recently sentenced to prison for his shocking crime. According to investigation documents, this notorious producer has repeatedly sexually harassed and raped female stars in Cannes. However, these wrongdoings were later covered up for many years.
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Producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexually harassing and raping many female stars at Cannes.
Last year, the organizers caused controversy when they chose to screen Johnny Depp's new movie, even though the actor had previously been convicted by a British court of abusing his ex-wife Amber Heard. Immediately afterwards, French actress Adele Haenel also posted a letter calling for a boycott of the prestigious film festival for honoring many names who have been accused of rape and sexual harassment such as Polanski or Gerard Depardieu.
Right before the premiere of the movie Megalopolis on May 16, a scandal broke out when director Francis Ford Coppola was accused of asking to kiss a supporting actress on the chest to help her “enhance her emotions” before filming a nude scene. close. Francis Ford Coppola's representative currently refuses to respond to these allegations.
It is undeniable that, in addition to the famous works of art released, Cannes always attracts the public with its lavish, bohemian image and even the dark side behind the scenes. Famous critic Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian once commented that sex is the catalyst that creates the charm of the world's largest film festival over the years, both on screen and off. “In the minds of some organizing committee members, they believe that the sexiness of Cannes is more attractive than sex,” the writer said.