(CNN) -- When Gérard Depardieu triggered a fiscal feud with the French government a few weeks ago, the media had fun recasting him in his movie role as the comic book character Obélix, a fat and superhumanly strong Gaulois who stands up to the Romans. Now that the French movie star has abandoned the land of the Gauls to become a Russian citizen, his recent film role as the mad monk Rasputin is being evoked to put a cinematic image on a bizarre real-life drama that has become an affair of state. Depardieu's "defection" to Russia has both amused and angered his compatriots. The actor has not helped matters with his puzzling public statements. Depardieu, whose father was a communist, praised Russia as a "great democracy," a description open to some debate given that country's history.
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Gérard Depardieu is granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin
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Matthew Fraser: Depardieu is not the only one who wants to escape France's income taxes
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He says the French are suspicious of money and hostile toward the wealthy
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Fraser: Depardieu's choice to become a Russian citizen is seen as a rejection of France
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Over the weekend, Depardieu made a visit to @placeholder that was splashed all over the media in Russia -- and was the first item on the French evening news on Sunday.
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French television viewers watched footage of @placeholder defend Vladimir Putin and proudly brandish his new Russian passport.
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Depardieu's love for @placeholder cannot be indifferent to the country's flat 13% income tax rate, measurably lower than the 75% rate that France's socialist government will impose this year on income over a million euros.
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Depardieu said he admires @placeholder for its history and great artists.
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The notion of the "French exception" reinforces the idea that @placeholder is different and can resort to extraordinary means to protect its national identity, usually by heavy state intervention.