For the first time in Hollywood, a fiction film fully seizes the Weinstein affair, a real shock wave in Hollywood. The story is based on the extensive investigation by two New York Times reporters. Back to the big steps.
Two journalists from the New York Times, Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, have together brought to light one of the most important scandals of their generation. At the origin of the #MeToo movement, their investigation broke decades of silence around the problem of sexual assault in Hollywood cinema, forever changing American society and the world of culture.
We know that Hollywood has a habit of quickly seizing on major affairs, news items, often seeing in them material for resounding films, based on real events. For the Weinstein affair, it took 5 years, between the outbreak of the scandal in broad daylight in the fall of 2017, and this film, which arrives in cinemas all over the world this fall, and in France precisely on Wednesday 22 november.
So far, fiction films, more or less inspired by the case, have emerged (such as Nina Wu or The Assistant) over the years, but She Said is the first feature film to fully return to the investigation. and openly cite the name of the producer. The film gives us to hear his voice, via a sound archive broadcast in length. Her figure is shown through comedian Mike Houston. Note also that a documentary, returning to the rise and fall of Harvey Weinstein, was released in 2019 under the title The Untouchable Harvey Weinstein.
She Said is adapted from the investigative book of the same name co-written by New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey (played by Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan). In October 2017, they published a report on the actions of Harvey Weinstein, in which more than 80 women accuse the producer of abuse or sexual assault (this investigation at the origin of the #MeToo movement). It was precisely this investigation that was the trigger for everything that followed. The film therefore shows the meticulous collection of testimonies, information, and the very long work of persuasion to encourage these victims to dare to speak out, anonymously or not, and create a snowball effect.
Samantha Morton vs. Zoe Kazan Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
In this regard, it is interesting to see which personalities are known to have agreed to participate in the film. We will thus highlight the contribution of actress Ashley Judd, who was one of the first to testify, and who plays her own role in the film. The actress’s decision to speak out has helped persuade many other women to do the same in speaking out. Once the script for She Said was finalized and the production of the film launched, Ashley Judd was contacted to play her own role, which she accepted. Other well-known actresses appear in the plot, but via other actresses. Thus, we hear a voice supposed to be that of Rose McGowan (played by Keilly McQuail). Gwyneth Paltrow is also mentioned, but does not actually appear.
Crimes and power on Chérie 25: a look back at the career of Ashley Judd, emblematic figure of #MeToo
After years of rumors, allusions, or other jokes around the reputation of Harvey Weinstein, “the worst kept secret” of Hollywood, the extremely tedious investigation to be carried out by the duo Kantor – Twohey finally comes out, precisely on the date October 5, 2017. A real race against time, which the film depicts with a breathless pace.
Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan in She Said
Universal
As the film She said at the end indicates, the release of this investigation was followed very closely by that of Ronan Farrow. This last wish moreover to reveal the affair a few months before with NBC, but he would have been pressured by NBC not to publish this investigation.
It is precisely on October 10, 2017, that Ronan Farrow reveals in the New Yorker the allegations of thirteen additional women, accusing Harvey Weinstein. It should be noted that an adaptation project of this second investigation was also linked, in series this time, under the name Catch and Kill. This is a series of six episodes broadcast on HBO and the HBO Max platform last summer in the United States.
On October 8, 2017, three days after Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s investigation was published in The New York Times, The Weinstein Company announced that Harvey Weinstein had been fired. A decision made”in the light of new elements concerning his abuses“, it is reported.
Since the revelations of the New York Times and then the New Yorker in October 2017, when the highly publicized trial opened, a total of more than 90 women – actresses, models, collaborators, etc. – have described the sexual predatory behavior of the fallen tycoon.
On May 31, 2018, a New York jury charged Harvey Weinstein with multiple rapes and sexual abuse. On February 24, 2020, he was found guilty of 1st degree sexual abuse as well as 3rd degree rape. On March 11, 2020, then aged 63, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Harvey Weinstein condemned: the reactions of Asia Argento, Rosanna Arquette, Rose McGowan…
Harvey Weinstein then decided to appeal and asked for a new trial to take place. A second trial took place on October 10, 2022. He was charged with 11 complaints of rape and sexual abuse, involving 5 victims in Los Angeles. In August 2022, his appeal regarding his trial in New York was accepted. He will surely speak by next year.
In 2018, their work was recognized with the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The following year, Twohey and Kantor published the book She said: the underside of the investigation which revealed the Weinstein affair and exploded the Me Too movement. A book has also appeared following Ronan Farrow’s investigation, entitled Shutting Them Up. These two books have met with great success in bookstores.
She Said by Maria Schrader was released in theaters this Wednesday, November 23.