When actress Adele Haenel last month walked out of the Cesars ceremony, France's equivalent of the Oscars, exclaiming "Long live paedophilia!" it reignited a long simmering debate in the country over gender roles and attitudes towards sex, art and power.

In late 2017, the #MeToo movement gripped France as it did the rest of the world. But a backlash also followed, including from high-profile women and the arts industry, more violent and sustained than in perhaps any other country.

So what is it about France that still makes it so reluctant to deal with harassment and abuse?

Young woman on fire

In November, allegations against two movie directors shook French cinema.

Haenel, a two-time Cesar winner and star of the recent "Portrait of a Young Woman on Fire," revealed that she had been sexually harassed and abused by director Christophe Ruggia between the ages of 12 and 15.

Around the same time, a photographer named Valentine Monnier accused Roman Polanski of raping and beating her in his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland in 1975.

The award-winning French-Polish director, famed for movies like "Chinatown," "The Pianist" and "Rosemary's Baby," notoriously fled the U.S. to avoid jail after he was charged with drugging and raping a minor in 1977. At least five more women, including Monnier, have since accused him of sexual assault and an international warrant is still out for his arrest.

This did not stop his latest film, "J'accuse," from receiving 12 Cesar nominations from his peers.

The accolades prompted protests outside the ceremony and Haenel's walkout, followed by some of her colleagues, after an absent Polanski was awarded the Cesar for best director. The show's host, comedian Florence Foresti, refused to return to the stage afterwards and posted one word on Instagram: "Sickened."

'Séduction à la française'

There could hardly have been a more marked contrast between France's celebration of Polanski and the conviction in the U.S. of former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual assault two weeks later.

France has long prided itself for its free thinking and sexually liberated attitude, compared to the "puritanical" U.S.

At the height of #MeToo in early 2018, about 100 high-profile French women, including screen legend Catherine Deneuve, published an open letter defending men's right to flirt and dismissing allegations of impropriety "when their only mistake was to touch a knee, try and steal a kiss… or send messages with sexual connotations to a woman who did not feel the same attraction."

Read more:

French film icon Deneuve slams #Metoo, defends men's right to hit on women

"We are stuck on concepts like chivalry, like the artist who is in love with his muse, relationships that are in fact based on a power imbalance," Iris Brey, an expert on gender and sexuality in film, told French news site Mediapart as the new allegations surfaced in November.

"There is a #MeToo paradox in France: It is one of the countries where the movement was the most closely followed on social media, but from a political perspective and in cultural spheres, France has completely missed the boat," Haenel added in an interview with the New York Times last month.

Last week, over 100 female lawyers published an open letter defending Polanski and statutes of limitations, insisting that accusations are not proof and that every person is innocent until proven guilty. Most of Polanski's accusers came public with their allegations long after the statute had lapsed, meaning legal proceedings could no longer be initiated.

The 'artist' argument

An oft-repeated argument in France is that a distinction must be made between the artist and the man. "One mustn't confuse the work and the artist... because the work must be protected," Culture Minister Franck Riester said recently.

In a country that prizes its arts, its literature, its cinema and its philosophers, critics have accused #MeToo activists and feminist groups of trying to censor artists and smother their creativity with their allegations.

"We hate victims 'without talent' who denounce a supposed 'genius,'" Canadian feminist Johanne St-Amour wrote in an opinion piece last week in reference to Polanski, whom she described as "untouchable."

Many Academy members pointedly ignored the new allegations when deciding who should be awarded a Cesar, with one unnamed producer telling the daily 20 Minutes: "I voted for Roman Polanski because he is a great director and 'J'accuse' is a great film. The rest is a matter for the courts, not for the Cesars."

French author Gabriel Matzneff became engulfed in a scandal in January when a new book detailed his relationship with a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s, when he was nearly 50. But he had long written about his preference for young boys and girls and still had many fans among France's elite, including former President Francois Mitterrand.

'No comment'

Unlike in the U.S., where celebrities quickly came out in support of #MeToo, few big names in France have condemned those accused of harassment or rape.

Screen icon Fanny Ardant passionately defended Polanski after his Cesar win, and in turn got backing from singer and former French first lady Carla Bruni after her comments were criticized. Actor Lambert Wilson also defended Ardant while slamming the "public lynching" of Polanski and politically correct "terrorism."

The few names that have backed Haenel and Polanski's accusers have included Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, Haenel's co-star Noemie Merlant, and other lesser known and mostly younger actresses, reflecting a generational divide on the issue.

Not just Polanski has had an easier time with allegations in France than colleagues across the pond.

In the U.S., reports of improper behavior quickly brought down influential men like Weinstein and even beloved figures like Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey. "Fifth Element" director Luc Besson, accused of assault or harassment by nine women in France, has received much less media attention.

Director Woody Allen, who also faces allegations of sexual abuse by his adoptive daughter, took a hit when his U.S. publisher announced it would not release his controversial memoir. His French publisher however plans to go ahead with it.

France's moment?

Things could be slowly changing, however.

Iris Brey said France was having its "Adele Haenel moment": unlike other rape victims that have come forward so far, the actress is a well-known face and an outspoken voice, and police have now launched an investigation into Ruggia.

Matzneff was meanwhile dropped by three publishers and police are also digging into the paedophilia allegations against him and have called for other victims to come forward.