The film, by the Dutch director of Basic Instinct and Total Recall, is accused of blasphemy and misogyny by some critics, and of mere lurid camp theatricality by others. Speaking on Saturday, the veteran director defended his new film from all charges. “I don’t understand how you can be blasphemous about something that really happened four or five hundred years ago. Blasphemous or not, it certainly follows the festival’s ignoble tradition of showing at least one outrageous film. As a historian I don’t think we should ignore or downplay the violence that took place against women in the past.

Source: The Guardian July 10, 2021 18:00 UTC