billboards around France without their permission. The judge favoured the producers, saying the film was more revealing than the poster. Beau Pere was among Blier's least commercially successful films. The film played at the New York Film Festival in October 1981. The film was released in the U.K. as Stepfather and in the U.S. as Beau Pere. In Canada, the film was banned in the province of Ontario but approved for Quebec and British Columbia, and was a particularly controversial case concerning censorship and community standards. Reception Critical reception The film has received positive reviews. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader observes similarities to Lolita and says Beau Pere "has enough of Blier's customary taboo-busting vigor to provide a reasonably unsettling good time". Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote in 1981 that despite the objectionable subject matter, "Mr. Blier tells this story very gently, with as much attention to the humor of the situation as to its eroticism". She also stated Besse played the character as an "extremely changeable creature, childish one minute and precocious the next". People called the film convincing and touching, and in spite of the topic, not pornographic. Lloyd Paseman, writing for The Register-Guard, compared the film to Blier's earlier Get Out Your Handkerchiefs in its subject matter, but said Beau Pere was better, with Dewaere being "excellent" and Besse being "The main reason to see Beau Pere", comparing her to Brooke Shields. Conversely, David Denby of New York magazine panned the film as "heavy-handed and sluggish". In his 2002 Movie & Video Guide, Leonard Maltin gives the film three and a half stars and calls it thoughtful and sensitive. James Berardinelli of ReelViews credits the film with a "provocative script featuring well-defined characters and a pair of powerful performances". Time Out dismissed the film as "polite porn", while Voir magazine notes the film may be shocking decades later. Rotten Tomatoes counted four favourable reviews out of five. Accolades Beau Pere competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but did not win. Lanzoni highlighted Beau Pere and Série noire in noting Dewaere never received the César Award for Best Actor. References Bibliography External links 1981 comedy-drama films 1981 films Films based on French novels Films directed by Bertrand Blier Films set in Paris French comedy-drama films 1980s French-language films Incest in film Juvenile sexuality in films Films scored by Philippe Sarde Censored films Film