London: Actress Kim Novak, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Vertigo, has attacked the silent film The Artist for ripping off music from the film, calling it a “rape”.
Novak took out a full page magazine ad to attack the Oscar hopeful for using the Bernard Herrmann’s music from her film, the Daily Mail reported.
“I want to report a rape. I feel as if my body…or at least my body of work-has been violated by the movie The Artist’,” Novak says in the ad. Music from ‘Vertigo’ is used in the French black-and-white film as a homage to the silent-film era but Novak says she decided to protest as the director is no more to take up his case.
“It is morally wrong for the artistry of our industry to use and abuse famous pieces of work to gain attention and applause for other than what they were intended,” the 78-year-old actress said.
In a response to Novak’s campaign, The Artist’s writer-director Michel Hazanavicius said, The Artist was made as a love letter to cinema, and grew out of my (and all of my cast and crew’s) admiration and respect for movies throughout history.
“I love Bernard Herrmann and his music has been used in many different films and I’m very pleased to have it in mine. I respect Kim Novak greatly, and I’m sorry to hear she disagrees.”
Novak’s use of strong language has been criticised by advocates against sexual assault. (PTI)