An almost unwatchable ‘lech fest’ of a film by one of France’s top directors that includes some two and a half hours of twerking and pole dancing was savaged at the Cannes film festival Friday.
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo consists of ‘three-hours-plus of jiggling female butts,’ wrote critic Boyd van Hoeij.
Critics laid into director Abdellatif Kechiche – who is being investigated by police for an alleged sexual assault on an actress – for the way his camera drools over the bodies of his female cast and for a 13-minute cunnilingus scene in a nightclub toilet.
Stars line up for the waiting press at the premier of Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo, which was criticsed for consisting of ‘three-hours-plus of jiggling female butts,’ wrote critic Boyd van Hoeij
A clip from Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo, which was described as ‘painfully retrograde and painful to watch’ by the Hollywood Reporter
‘It is painfully retrograde and painful to watch,’ the Hollywood Reporter declared.
‘Oral-sex intermezzo aside, this is basically ‘Twerking Female Fannies: The Movie’,’ said Boyd van Hoeij.
‘Sitting through it was its own kind of hell. If only one could unsee and unhear it.’
Variety said that given the sex assault allegation against Kechiche – which he strenuously denies – this ‘bloated, petty provocation’ may never be released.
Critics laid into director Abdellatif Kechiche (pictured) – who is being investigated by police for an alleged sexual assault on an actress – for the way his camera drools over the bodies of his female cast
Others questioned how it should have been allowed to compete for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, which the Tunisian-born director won in 2013 for ‘Blue Is the Warmest Colour’.
The stars of that lesbian love story, Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos, later complained about Kechiche’s behaviour towards them on set.
New Zealand producer Patricia Hetherington, one of many who walked out of his new movie’s first Cannes screening early Friday, called the film ‘the most lascivious leery trash I’ve seen. Eurgh!
‘Talk about objectification and voyeurism.’
Its inclusion in a year when the festival – once the favourite stalking ground of disgraced Hollywood legend Harvey Weinstein – also honoured veteran French actor Alain Delon had already stoked controversy.
#MeToo campaigners launched a petition calling for the award to be withdrawn, branding Delon a violent ‘misogynist’.
The actor had earlier admitted to slapping women after his son revealed that he once broke eight of his mother’s ribs and her nose twice.
Even some of Kechiche’s biggest fans were appalled by the film, the second part of a trilogy set in his childhood home of Sete, a port and resort on France’s Mediterranean coast.
Kechiche, 58, will face the media at a press conference in Cannes later Friday, but for now is happy enough to pose with the film’s stars
Director Abdellatif Kechiche and cast members Salim Kechiouche and Hafsia Herzi walk the red carpet for the premiere of the film. Some questioned how it should have been allowed to compete for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or
David Ehrlich of the Indiewire website called it ‘a four-hour movie about butts. Literally 60 percent of the movie is close-ups of butts.
‘I had a mild psychotic break(down) at one point,’ he tweeted as the curtain came down.
The New York Times wondered if ‘you die from twerking for too long? Was there a paramedic on set? The women’s stamina is ultimately terrifying.’
British critic Robbie Collin of the Daily Telegraph tweeted, ‘I’m a great admirer of Abdellatif Kechiche’s filmography, but… there are now some big buts.’
Kechiche, 58, will face the media at a press conference in Cannes later Friday.
REVEALED: Couple who proposed on Cannes red carpet are a 63-year-old millionaire club owner and his reality TV star girlfriend, 25, who have only been dating for SIX WEEKS
The besotted couple who got engaged on the red carpet in Cannes at last night’s premiere of Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo are a millionaire Greek club owner and a Portuguese reality TV star, Mail Online can reveal.
Milos Kant, 63, dropped to one knee in front of banks of photographers and offered a ring to 25-year-old girlfriend Marguerite Aranha, which she gleefully accepted.
The couple have had a whirlwind romance and only began dating on April 15.
It seems they met while she was performing as a topless dancer in The Princess Club in Lucerne, Switzerland, which he co-owns.
The couple who proposed on the red carpet in Cannes last night are millionaire Greek club owner Milos Kant, 63, and his 25-year-old Portuguese TV star girlfriend Marguerite Aranha
Miss Aranha is well-known to Portuguese TV audiences as the winner of the second season of Love on Top, a Love Island-style show where singletons – including members of the public chosen via an app – compete for a prize.
The couple who proposed on the red carpet in Cannes last night are millionaire Greek club owner Milos Kant, 63, and his 25-year-old Portuguese TV star girlfriend Marguerite Aranha
Mr Kant was pictured down on one knee on the red carpet as he proposed to Miss Aranha, who gleefully accepted the ring
Mr Kant was pictured down on one knee on the red carpet as he proposed to Miss Aranha, who gleefully accepted the ring
Miss Aranha is known to Portuguese TV show audiences as the winner of the second season of Love on Top, a Love Island-style reality show
Miss Aranha is known to Portuguese TV show audiences as the winner of the second season of Love on Top, a Love Island-style reality show
The couple began dating in April when Miss Aranha seems to have been working as a topless dancer in Mr Kant’s The Princess Club in Switzerland
Since then they have been on holiday together in Thailand, moved in together, and last week Mr Kant went to meet Miss Aranha’s family in Portugal
Since scooping the female crown in July 2016 – there is also a male winner – Miss Aranha has been working as a model, regularly posting shots on Instagram.
From The Princess Club’s Instagram account, it appears she began performing there some time around early April this year as part of their Viva Portugal nights.
The couple began dating in April when Miss Aranha seems to have been working as a topless dancer in Mr Kant’s The Princess Club in Switzerland
Since then they have been on holiday together in Thailand, moved in together, and last week Mr Kant went to meet Miss Aranha’s family in Portugal
Videos from the night itself shows scantily clad male and female dancers performing in front of the DJ booth, one of whom is Miss Aranha. Inside the booth, just a few feet away, is Mr Kant.
On April 15 the couple announced they were officially dating, causing a sensation among Portuguese gossip sites because of their near 40-year age difference.
But Miss Aranha has repeatedly brushed off the criticism, writing in one recent post: ‘When love is not madness it is not love.’
Mr Kant has also angrily rebuffed suggestions that he is old enough to be her father.
The couple’s relationship has caused a stir in Portugal thanks to the near 40-year age gap between the two, but they have rebuffed suggestions that it is inappropriate
Around two weeks after the pair started dating, they jetted off to Thailand where they spent another two weeks riding elephants, lounging on beaches and posing for photos
Miss Aranha worked as a model for some time after appearing on TV, before getting a job dancing in Mr Kant’s club at his Viva Portugal night
Shortly after returning from this holiday in Thailand, Miss Aranha (pictured) took Mr Kant to Portugal to meet her family
Responding to one cruel comment on Instagram, he said: ‘You don’t know anything, you’re envious and have nothing to do but write s***.
‘I do not care what you say at all, but do not talk about Marguerite that way.’
A month ago the pair jetted off to Thailand together where they spent their time riding elephants, lounging on beaches and sipping cocktails, before returning to Switzerland.
Landing two weeks ago, Miss Aranha appears to have moved in with Mr Kant, posing an image of herself with a trolley full of food, a coffee maker and other appliances, writing: ‘My house is not mine anymore.’
A few days later, she was promoted to managing director of The Princess Club, and on May 16 Selfie reported that Mr Kant had gone to Portugal to meet her family.
The couple’s relationship has caused a stir in Portugal thanks to the near 40-year age gap between the two, but they have rebuffed suggestions that it is inappropriate
Last week, she published a photo of herself in the Évora District, west of Lisbon, with two women who appear to be her mother and sister.
Then, on Thursday night, she was pictured on the Cannes red carpet wearing a low-cut red silk dress with a thigh-high split on both sides with Mr Kant, who dropped to one knee to propose.
The couple announced their relationship was official on Instagram on April 15 with this shot
After returning from holiday, Miss Aranha moved into Mr Kant’s house which they again announced via Instagram
Neither partner has posted on social media since the engagement and it is not clear when or where they will tie the knot
This was Miss Aranha’s last post before the proposal, in which she waxed lyrical in the comments section over her feelings
After a moment of shock she gleefully accepted and jumped to her feet so the pair could share a kiss before walking into the film – French drama film Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo.
Neither partner has posted on social media since, and it is not clear when or where they will get married.
The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival is currently taking place from May 14 to May 25.
Miss Aranha worked as a model for some time after appearing on TV, before getting a job dancing in Mr Kant’s club at his Viva Portugal night
From Pamela Anderson to Dua Lipa, the great and good of the movie and music world mingled at the Cannes Film Festival’s most glamorous fixture on Thursday night, a fundraiser for AIDS research where stars including Mariah Carey took to the stage.
Reality TV star and model Kendall Jenner, actors Antonio Banderas, Andie MacDowell and Pamela Anderson, and designer Tommy Hilfiger were among guests at the swanky AmfAR dinner on the French Riviera, put on by the U.S.-based Foundation for AIDS Research.
Attendees and AmfAR representatives said this year’s event – which also featured crooner Tom Jones singing some of his hits including “Sex Bomb” – was particularly poignant, following medical breakthroughs in trying to find a cure for AIDS.