UK Edition
Woody Allen's new film contains an uncomfortable adult/teen sex scene
A forthcoming Woody Allen film will feature a character being accused of sleeping with a 15-year-old girl, with a plot twist later revealing that she is in fact 21.
According to Page Six, the untitled film, which just completed production, stars Jude Law as a middle-aged married man who embarks on affairs with several much younger women.
One scene depicts his wife, played by Rebecca Hall, accusing him of having sex with a 15-year-old "concubine" played by Elle Fanning. In a sex scene, Fanning's character protests that she is in fact 21. She then asks Law's character: "Were all these women for pleasure, or were you researching a project?"
Little is known about the premise of the forthcoming film, which also stars Selena Gomez, Suki Waterhouse and Call Me By Your Name actor Timothée Chalamet, but the described scene seems to mirror a similar subplot in Allen's 1979 romantic comedy Manhattan, in which he played a 42-year-old sitcom writer in a relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
81-year-old Allen, who is married to the adopted daughter of his former partner Mia Farrow, was previously accused of sexually abusing his daughter Dylan Farrow when she was seven years old, an allegation supported by Allen's son Ronan – the author of an expose on Harvey Weinstein published two weeks ago in the New Yorker.
In 1993, a case against Allen was closed, with investigators declaring that "no credible evidence was found that the child named in this report has been abused or maltreated." Allen, meanwhile, has always strongly denied Farrow's accusations.
Last week Allen backtracked on comments in which he seemed to express "sadness" for disgraced movie mogul Weinstein, telling Variety: "When I said I felt sad for Harvey Weinstein I thought it was clear the meaning was because he is a sad, sick man. I was surprised it was treated differently. Lest there be any ambiguity, this statement clarifies my intentions and feelings."