With his hulking frame, crooked nose, and volcanic charisma, Gérard Depardieu reigned over cinema for half a century.

When French actor Gérard Depardieu walks into a Paris courtroom on Monday, he won’t just be facing two women who accuse him of sexual assault — he’ll also be confronting a nation long criticized for dragging its feet in confronting sexual violence, particularly when committed by the powerful.

A Paris court has found a filmmaker guilty of sexual assault on French actor Adèle Haenel when she was between 12 and 15 in the early 2000s, in the country’s first big #MeToo trial.