On August 1, 2003, France was traumatized by a news item which took on a national dimension. Actress Marie Trintignant, daughter of the illustrious Jean-Louis Trintignant, dies in hospital as a result of her injuries, 5 days after being violently beaten by her companion at the time, the singer of Noir Désir Bertrand Cantat. At the time, violence against women was not yet a great national cause as it could be in 2021, but the case had a great impact. Bertrand Cantat is sentenced to eight years in prison, but the memory of the disappearance of an actress adored by the public remains anchored.
Monday March 8, 2021 marked International Women's Day, celebrated across the world. An occasion chosen by Gérard Lanvin, known for his role in comedy classics like Le Boulet or Camping, to get into music. The actor is releasing an unpublished piece, Call for help, in which he denounces violence against women. A vocation that he came to defend on the set of Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine in C to you on France 5. The occasion for him to evoke the death of his friend Marie Trintignant: "I was very marked by the disappearance of Marie Trintignant, who was a friend, a colleague. Mostly a friend. And I could never forgive that" he started. "So I am very sensitive now to this horror … I cannot accept that a man can hit women so hard. There is a time when it is not acceptable so we have to go into battle " added Gérard Lanvin.
A speech that the 70-year-old actor also made during his time on RTL: "It was very violent when I learned of my girlfriend's death Marie Trintignant, this massacre. (…) Marie, I toured with her. We were great friends. And of see her slaughtered with fists by a man who could not hold back his emotions, whatever they are. There is a moment when obviously, you are hit and it does not leave you " declared Gérard Lanvin, who has, like many fans of Marie Trintignant, still not digested the fate of the actress who died far too soon.