They can deny it all they want, but the blueprint of the story is too close to a real person to not be immediately linked with it. Maybe they fear lawsuits by Sarkozy, though I doubt he still has the power to do anything like that, but that would be the only reason I can imagine. Obviously the portraying of a french man is not the best. Maybe some would feel that it does put all male from France into a doubtful light, but that would not be a fair assumption. We're talking about a spoiled guy, the nationality does not matter.
There's also a lot of nudity in this (also from Gerard Depardieu, in case you were wondering). The subject matter is also very harsh, but shows what addiction and loss of sense (or senses?) can do to a person. Maybe therapy can help, maybe not. Bottom line is, there is bad things happening. All shown in a very slow pace (like a "body search", which has some fun dialog as well) ... can you bare it? (sorry for the pun)
There's also a lot of nudity in this (also from Gerard Depardieu, in case you were wondering). The subject matter is also very harsh, but shows what addiction and loss of sense (or senses?) can do to a person. Maybe therapy can help, maybe not. Bottom line is, there is bad things happening. All shown in a very slow pace (like a "body search", which has some fun dialog as well) ... can you bare it? (sorry for the pun)