Actress Nicole Kidman gently addressed criticism of her new film Grace of Monaco on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival.
“I feel sad because I think that the film has no malice toward the family or particularly towards Grace or Rainier,” said Kidman, who stars in the film’s titular role.
The controversy over the biopic film, which started more than a year ago, involves the question of how a specific period of French-American cultural history is portrayed on the big screen.
Set in the 1960s, Grace of Monaco features as a central storyline France’s attempt to annex Monaco and claim its tax revenue. Monaco’s Prince Rainier III, who ascended the throne in 1949, played a key role in the resolution of the crisis, creation of a revised constitution, and restoration of Monaco’s national parliament.
Prince Rainier III married American actress Grace Kelly in 1956. Their children constitute Monaco’s reining Grimaldi family: Caroline, Princess of Hanover; Albert II, Prince of Monaco; and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.
To further complicate matters, the film’s US distributor, Harvey Weinstein has been involved in an ongoing dispute with its French director Olivier Dahan.
Weinstein cut his own version and now wants a renegotiation of the agreed-upon rights fee with the film’s financier to mitigate the additional costs Weinstein Company has incurred.
Later, disputes intensified, this time over the film’s rollout. In January Weinstein called off the film’s March release, dashing the French filmmakers’ hopes that it would pave the way for a successful European release later in the Spring. Shortly thereafter, Weinstein further angered by the news that Cannes would open with the French version.