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Berlinale opener explores power relations in film industry
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Shock opener: French director Francois Ozon poses for photographers as he arrives on Feb. 10 at the red carpet opening ceremony of the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) and premiere of his feature film, 'Peter von Kant', which explores the issue of power relationships in the film industry (AFP/John MacDougall)
F
rench director Francois Ozon's Peter von Kant, a film about a director's possessive relationship with a young actor, explores the power directors hold over actors, a question that resonates strongly in the #MeToo era, Ozon said.
In the film, which premiered at Thursday's opening of the Berlin International Film Festival 2022, Ozon said he aimed to pose these questions to directors and the audience four years after the #MeToo movement shook the global film industry.
"There is something universal [...] with all these questions about control, manipulation and relationships of domination," Ozon told a news conference.
"As a director, we are obliged to ask ourselves these questions, because we are in a position of power.”
The #MeToo movement, sparked in 2017 by accusations of sexual misconduct against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, prompted hundreds of actors to speak about harassment and assault by powerful filmmakers.
Peter von Kant, a remake of the 1972 German movie The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, shows a prominent film director falling in love with Amir, a much younger man from a poor family, and stars Denis Menochet and Isabelle Adjani.
Von Kant seduces Amir with champagne and the promise of fame, until the young man's sudden success turns the tables on his possessive patron.
Ozon said he wanted to show how love shifted power relations.
"It makes things much more ambiguous because things are not binary, I think, in his work and love relationships," he said.
Ozon said it was the pandemic that brought the 50-year-old original to mind. Since Bitter Tears was set almost exclusively within the claustrophobic confines of one apartment, it was easy to square with the coronavirus regulations in force when he made his movie.
The film is in competition for the Golden Bear, the Berlinale’s top prize, to be awarded next Wednesday.
