“Les Valseuses” by Bertrand Blier, from cult film to symbol of rape culture

CINEMA – It was undoubtedly his best-known film. Bertrand Blier died this Tuesday, January 21 at the age of 85. The director had shot numerous films with Gérard Depardieu, including The Valseuses. The feature film, at the time prohibited for those under 18, was criticized by some, deemed “transgressive” by others. But had enjoyed notable success in theaters with more than 3 million admissions. Above all, it symbolizes today, in the age of MeToo cinema, the golden age of rape culture and its representations in art.

Released in 1974 and adapted from the novel of the same name, the film follows the escape of Jean-Claude and Pierrot, two misfits played by Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere, in the company of a young shampooer, Marie-Ange (Miou-Miou). As journalist Clémentine Gallot pointed out to Nouvel Obs in 2024, it is not only because of the presence in the casting of Gérard Depardieu, accused of rape by several women, that the film is today deeply problematic.

“We can do anything to her, she doesn’t care!” She doesn't scratch, she doesn't bite, she pushes away. » This sentence is one of the many dialogues of the Waltzes. It illustrates a rape culture set up as a model, which is shown as a common thread throughout the feature film. The Valseuses which therefore presents the form of a “road movie”, is in reality a succession of rapes and sexual assaults. Committed with a smile and in good humor, to better erase the seriousness.

The “friendly rapists” of Waltzes

Implicit in the film, Bertrand Blier, to whom we also owe Evening wearfeatures two likeable and endearing men. Men who are obsessed with sex, but who don't care about their partner. The rapes shown in the film are thus downplayed and the victims dehumanized. What the character played by Gérard Depardieu does not fail to underline, thus qualifying the young Marie-Ange as “hole with hair around it and that’s it. Nothing but an insensitive gut » when the latter reveals itself “ frigid » to their attacks.

In the same way, the two “heroes” of this film, presented upon its release as an “erotic black comedy”, make rape a game and a subject for crude jokes. Giving rise to dialogues which today (and already at the time for some) seem highly problematic: “But, for God’s sake, is there an ass waiting for us somewhere?” » Pierrot asks. “Ah well that’s for sure!” The problem is to establish the connection without raising the alarm. replies Jean-Claude, emphasizing that the main thing is after all, not to get caught.

The Valseuses “shines” also by the absence of awareness of the feeling of domination of men, according to the analysis of the researcher Bérénice Hamidi to our colleagues at Franceinfo. This is especially visible in the relationship between the two men and their “hostage” Marie-Ange. “ She's both our daughter. And now all three of them, she is warned, she agrees. She's not a goddess, but in bed, there are some worse ones. There's only one problem, as much as you should be warned right away, and that's that she never gets off. So if you feel that she's a little inert and silent, don't worry, that's her nature. » announces Jean-Claude, making the young shampooer an object devoid of feelings, but more or less willing.

The illustration of sexual violence

The character of Marie-Ange in fact aims to legitimize all forms of violence committed by the two thugs who kidnap her. She thus expresses on several occasions a form of consent by saying for example: “ There's no point in making so many jokes if you want to fuck me, go ahead “. A phrase which, in 2025, is above all understood as the expression of a form of resignation, of renunciation.

Bertrand Blier actually depicts in images and in an indisputable manner the reality of what sexual assault and rape are. In a scene from the film, the two men attack a young mother breastfeeding her baby, played by Brigitte Fossey. Jean-Claude then said to the latter: “ What I would really like is for you to nurse my friend. He is a big lover of milk and what's more, he was born to an unknown mother. I'm sure it would make him happy ”, before forcing her to undress.

This scene had a profound impact on the actress The Boom as recalled the Point. On the set of What era in 2024, she declared thus, refusing in front of Léa Salamé to watch the sequence “ It's horrible, horrible, horrible. Because it's an attack. When a girl is troubled […]she is vulnerable, she cannot fight. Besides, there would be no point in fighting because there are two very strong people who can beat him up and do what they want. » thus evoking the state of astonishment that victims of sexual violence often go through.

The context before MeToo

Besides the substance, there is also the form. It is impossible to imagine today that The Valseuses is a film like any other; also, because of its casting. The star of the film, Gérard Depardieu, was a great friend of Bertrand Blier, with whom he filmed eight times. His ex-wife Anouk Grinberg, confided in 2024 in a long interview with Elle having witnessed several sexual assaults committed by the actor.

She had also clarified that her then husband encouraged the latter. “ Blier and he incited each other to humiliate women and laugh about it. The team showed allegiance and also laughed to please the kings. At that point in my life, I had no other choice than to laugh with the pack to (…) have a small place “. The actress thus highlighted the general atmosphere reigning on her ex-husband's film sets (but also at the time) and the total impunity enjoyed by sexual attackers.

An impunity now called into question in the midst of MeToo in cinema, thanks to the speeches of many actresses such as Judith Godrèche, Adèle Haenel and Anna Mouglalis. “ Are we not here? Peaceful ? Fresh? Relaxed glans? », says Gérard Depardieu / Jean-Claude at the end of the Waltzes. Probably not for much longer. The actor's trial for rape will take place next March in Paris.

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