Some puns for you: Deparduh. Depardon't. The "larger than life" (where do some journalists get these expressions from - he's neglecting his health to the point he waddles rather than walks) French actor is really taking to the "all the world's a stage" expression and throwing a monumental, drawn-out strop.
Having decided to move into a house just over the border in Belgium, France's prime minister called the action "shabby" hinting at a lack of patriotism while he was at it. He has since gone to Russia to personally receive a passport from President Putin. Touring the region of Mordovia, best known for its gulags (members of punk band Pussy Riot are being held there) and appearing in tv ads for a Russian bank all while missing a day in court in Paris for being 3 times over the limit while riding a scooter might lead some to say he's allowed himself to be bought and all for being in a huff.
There are many tax exiles from France, I admire the rally driver Sebastian Loeb whom when asked why he'd moved to Switzerland said, "French taxes are huge and the career of a sportsman does not last forever." Depardieu has even claimed he wasn't moving for tax reasons. Liar. Success, creation and talent is punished in France, so he says, which is really just another way of saying I don't want to pay that rate of tax. It has been said that France indeed has a tax regime that stiffles its economy - non-wage labour costs are particularly uncompetitive - but it's questionable whether this can be applied to the rate on personal income over 1 million Euros a year.
It is mostly Depardieu's behaviour in Russia that he is embarassing himself with. Talking about how much he loves the "great democracy" that is the present Russian Federation. Those of us who have been reading the news over the past decade know that democracy is a sham that the government barely bothers to even disguise these days. Imprisoning critics and even those who hold assets those in power want, and arranging "accidents" for still others, it is a thoroughly corrupt state run by the KGB. In the midst of his irritation at the French government singling him out, he's become a photo opportunity for Putin.
So when it comes to it, why not say "I won't lie, I'm moving because of tax." I must admit that I would personally decamp if in the unlikely event of earning that much the taxman would take 75% of my second million.
Loss of perspective from his red mist has seen Depardieu used as a prop by the government of a country that the actor claims to be something it plainly isn't. Russia being a good earner for him comes at a price which is a tax on his credibility.
It is mostly Depardieu's behaviour in Russia that he is embarassing himself with. Talking about how much he loves the "great democracy" that is the present Russian Federation. Those of us who have been reading the news over the past decade know that democracy is a sham that the government barely bothers to even disguise these days. Imprisoning critics and even those who hold assets those in power want, and arranging "accidents" for still others, it is a thoroughly corrupt state run by the KGB. In the midst of his irritation at the French government singling him out, he's become a photo opportunity for Putin.
So when it comes to it, why not say "I won't lie, I'm moving because of tax." I must admit that I would personally decamp if in the unlikely event of earning that much the taxman would take 75% of my second million.
Loss of perspective from his red mist has seen Depardieu used as a prop by the government of a country that the actor claims to be something it plainly isn't. Russia being a good earner for him comes at a price which is a tax on his credibility.
