By Hanna Rantala and Miranda Murray
CANNES, France, May 18 (Reuters) – Oscar-winning actor Javier Bardem denounced the aggressive masculinity at the heart of his new Cannes Film Festival competition entry “The Beloved” on Sunday, calling it a destructive force he hopes growing awareness can help end.
Bardem stars in director Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s drama about a hard-driving director who casts his estranged daughter in his new movie , reopening grievances borne of anger and ego.
The film is one of 22 competing for the festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, which will be handed out on May 23.
“The idea of this masculinity that is aggressive, that it has to be also showcasing his power over others, that’s something that resonates with me, because that’s the generation that I grew up with,” the 57-year-old Spanish actor told Reuters.
“And it’s wrong. And the fact that in this movie we’re talking about it … tells us that there’s more awareness about it, as something that we have to denounce, we have to put it away.”
The politically outspoken actor said he is less concerned about public opinion than in the past, though speaking out can still carry risks. “You have a family,” he said. “It’s not only you.”
At a press conference on Sunday, Bardem had broadened his criticism, saying “male toxic behaviour” extends to world leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.
He argued that such aggression and rivalry fuel conflicts in places like Ukraine and the Middle East.
Bardem, a long-time critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, said he continues to receive job offers despite his stance, suggesting attitudes may be shifting.
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala and Miranda Murray; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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