Credits: Mollat bookstore / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY 3.0.
In a recent interview with Le Parisien, Isild Le Besco, the famous French actress, made startling revelations about a period in her life. When she was only 16, she began a relationship with Benoît Jacquot, a filmmaker 36 years her senior. What started in a professional context quickly turned into a toxic relationship, marked by psychological abuse according to her account.
This hold over her is said to have profoundly influenced her personality and life path. In the long term, it allegedly even led the actress into other abusive relationships. “What is very serious is that, because I experienced this relationship at 16, it became part of who I am. A hold over someone creates other holds over someone,” she says.
Le Besco says she suffered constant criticism about her appearance and violent outbursts from Jacquot. She is now considering filing a complaint against him, as well as against director Jacques Doillon, who allegedly removed her from a film after she turned down his advances.
These revelations come in a context where the two men are facing similar accusations from other actresses such as Judith Godrèche, who filed a complaint against Benoît Jacquot for “rape involving violence against a minor under 15.”
Complaints from actresses are multiplying in French cinema, and a new approach to male-female relationships is surely needed… Only the courts will have the final word in all these cases.