Christine Boutin's "invasion of gays"

As France "recovers" from the million person march (organisers) or 150,000-strong (official figures) anti same-sex marriage "Manif pour tous" last weekend in Paris, a couple are preparing to wed in Montpellier.

On Wednesday Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau will become the first "gay grooms to tie the knot" since parliament voted in favour, the Constitutional Council gave its approval and the French president François Hollande signed same-sex marriage into law.

Vincent Autin (right) and Bruno Boileau (screenshot AFPTV report)

Add to that the fact that on the same day as the march, Franco-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche picked up top honours at the Cannes film festival for his "story of a young woman's awakening" in the film "La vie d'Adèle" ("Blue is the warmest colour") and you'll surely understand (?) how it has all become just a little too much for the country's most gay-friendly politician to handle.

We're talking about Christine Boutin of course, the former housing minister and leader of the centre-right Parti chrétien-démocrate (Christian democratic party, PCD) who defends family values and is most definitely not a homophobe.

That must be true because she has repeatedly said so.

Christine Boutin "I'm not a homophobe" (screenshot from TV5Monde, RFI, Le Monde interview)

But somehow it's increasingly hard to believe, especially in light of her outburst on French radio on Monday.

Following on from her recent tasteless tweet about US actress Angelina Jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer, and perhaps still feeling the after-effects (well there has to be some sort of explanation)  of being sprayed with tear gas during a Manif pour tous demonstration in Paris back in March, Boutin revealed that contrary to what she might insist, her views surely more than smack of homophobia.

Invited into the studios of RMC radio and asked to give her reaction to Kechiche's win, Boutin's  gay tolerance fuse blew.

"You can't watch a movie on television or a series without there being gays included and expressing themselves," she said.

"And now it's the Palme d'Or.... We're being invaded. We can no longer have a story without a gay theme occurring. It's too much," she continued.

"Today it seems to be a fashion to be gay. We're being invaded by gays."

Au secours!

Cannes film festival throws open its doors

With the usual hullabaloo and a throng of A-list celebrities expected, the 62nd edition of the annual Cannes film festival opened on Wednesday on the Côte d’Azur.

In purely French terms, it'll have to go something to outshine last year's festival, which saw the excellent “Entre les murs” (The Class) directed by Laurent Cantet win the coveted Palme d’Or.

But this year still promises to be a memorable one, with insiders - ah yes the infamous cognoscenti - seeming to agree that the list of entries is pretty impressive, especially in the main competition, that for the Palme d'Or.

The red carpet will of course be graced by the usual host of big screen names - domestic and international - including Monica Bellucci, Diane Kruger, Brad Pitt, Gérard Depardieu, Eric Cantona (more on him in a moment) and many, many more.

The 4,000 plus accredited journalists will have a tough time jostling for position as they clamber to get those all-important interviews and reports back to HQ.

And the nine-strong jury, headed this year by the French actress Isabelle Huppert, also look to have their work cut out as a glimpse at just some of the directors whose films are in the running for that coveted top prize would seem to bear out.

Lars von Trier (Antichrist), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Pedro Almodovar (Los Abrazos Rotus/Broken Embraces), Jane Campion (Bright Star) and Ang Lee (Taking Woodstock) all figure among the 20 film-makers in the in main competition.

For a full run down of all 20 films including the synopses, take a look here on the festival's official site.

That's not to mention of course another 20 films in the category "Un certain regard" click here, or those out of competition or receiving special screenings.

By any measure Cannes seems to have come up with a treasure trove for any film buff this time around and although of course I could go into rapturous speculation about the possible outcome, as I've yet to see any of the films, that might be more than a little presumptuous.

But I have seen a preview for one - and it's from a man who's no stranger to success at Cannes - the British director, Ken Loach.

His surreal comedy "Looking for Eric" stars none other than - wait for it Eric (as in the title of the film) Cantona.

YouTube Video

For those unfamiliar with the name, he is a former French international football (soccer) player, who in the 1990s became something of an idol to millions of British followers of the "beautiful game" during his seasons at first, Leeds United and later Manchester United.

The film looks and sounds as though it was a meeting of two men, who on paper at least might seem rather mismatched, but in reality have more in common.

And from the trailers, what Loach seems to offer film-goers is a trip down memory lane and something much more light-hearted than his usually more serious offerings.

It's a "must see" regardless of whether it receives critical acclaim at Cannes, although that certainly wouldn't do the box office receipts any harm.

The only qualm perhaps is that some of the dialogue (and remember this is just from the trailer) is very regional British English and the accents might be a little difficult for even some native speakers to follow.

Last year was the first time in 21 years that a French film scooped top honours for best movie at Cannes and only the fourth time a French production had triumphed since the gaggle of glitterati first started gathering for the annual film festival on the Côte d’Azur in 1946.

Can the French do it again? Well we'll have to wait until the final day of the festival, May 24, to find out what the jury thinks.

French triumph at Cannes but flop at Eurovision

For the first time in 21 years a French film has scooped top honours for best movie at the Cannes film festival.

“Entre les murs” (The Class) directed by Laurent Cantet won the coveted Palme d’Or on a unanimous decision by the jury.

It was only the fourth time a French production had triumphed since the gaggle of glitterati first started gathering for the annual film festival on the Côte d’Azur in 1946.

The film is a mix of documentary and fiction, following the lives of a class and their teacher in a tough inner city secondary school in Paris over the course of a year.

It was written by, and stars François Begaudeau – himself a teacher – with most of the other roles being filled by real students and teachers.

The president of the jury, US actor Sean Penn, was fulsome in his praise for the winner calling it an amazing film. Before the festival he had insisted that it was impossible to separate film from politics, and had promised that the winning film would be a reflection of the current climate.

Most would agree that “Entre les murs” is just that.

While the win might have come as something of a surprise given the relatively low profile of the film - mainly because it was shown on the last day of competition - there were beaming smiles all round as the French media gave itself a collective pat on the back for the win.

The national state television channel, France 2, was particularly pleased with itself as it was one of the main financial backers of the film and ran a live interview with Cantet, Begaudeau and some of the students at the end of its prime time news on Sunday.

The film isn’t actually due for general release until October this year, but already the culture minister, Christine Albanel, has jumped on the proverbial bandwagon and called for it to be screened in secondary schools throughout the country.

While Cannes attracts filmmakers and actors from around the globe, it’s also a special chance for some of Hollywood’s modern greats to bask in the sun and even more importantly their own glory as they give the assembled paparazzi more than their fair share of photo ops. And this year naturally was no exception.

There was the world premiere of the latest “Indiana Jones” movie with its star Harrison Ford showing up along with the director Steven Spielberg - who popped off to Paris to collect the Legion d’honneur. Of course “Brangelina” pitched up looking resplendently pregnant with twins – well at least one half of them did. Eva Longoria, Dustin Hoffman, Clint Eastwood and many, many others also tripped their way along La Croisette.

So the red carpet has been rolled up and another fun-packed carnival has come to an end.

While France might have triumphed at Cannes, there was no weekend “cultural” double whammy. At Saturday’s annual music jamboree, considered by many to be inappropriately called the Eurovision Song contest, the French contestant, Sébastien Tellier, could only manage 19th place (out of 25).

He notched up a miserly 47 points at the knees-up held this year in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, despite resorting to English lyrics and putting in a performance of his electro-pop “Divine” that by any critical standards was both professional and entertaining.

Still Eurovision, would not be Eurovision without the usual tactical voting as countries awarded top marks to neighbours and (former) political allies. Russia might have been victorious this time around and consequently won the right to host next year’s contest, but already there are calls for the “Big Four” (financial contributors), France, Germany, Britain and Spain to withdraw from future participation.

So no “douze points” for Tellier or France in Belgrade, but top marks at Cannes.