It's clear that Roman Polanski isn't a fan of birth control pills and gender equality. The controversial filmmaker is blaming pills for "masculinising" women and calling the levelling of genders "purely idiotic."

The Oscar-winning director, who was convicted of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse in 1978 for having sex with a 13-year-old child, is courting controversy again by voicing out his view on gender equality.

He was at the screening of his latest film "Venus in Fur" at the Cannes Film Festival when a reporter asked him how his views of women had changed over time.

"I think that now offering flowers to a lady becomes indecent, that's how I feel about it," he said at a news conference after the screening of his film, as quoted by AFP.

"I think to level the genders - it's purely idiotic. I think it's a result... of progress in medicine. I think that the Pill has changed greatly the woman of our times, 'masculinising' her - how would you say it?

"I think that it chases away the romance of our lives and that's a great pity."

"Venus in Fur" is a film adaptation of the play by David Ives, which was inspired by the novel of the same name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. It stars the 79-year-old filmmaker's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, who is 33 years his junior, and Mathieu Amalric.

"The satire on sexism was very seductive," Polanski said of the film. "There was a macho element to his character that was torn to pieces. That was enjoyable. People who know me there is nothing like that in my personality, so it gave me great satisfaction to do it."