Catherine Deneuve becomes Madame Chirac in an unexpected biopic seen through the lens

While the first films generally deal with very personal subjects, Léa Domenach chooses to bring the destiny of Bernadette Chirac to the screen. Former general councilor of Corrèze and wife of President Jacques Chirac, twice elected in 1995 and 2002, Bernadette Chirac has become a leading media figure, with strong political convictions, facing a mobilizing husband. A fight that a young director who knows how to tell stories examines with hindsight. Bernadette hits screens Wednesday October 4.

A woman in a man’s world

Arriving at the Elysée in 1995 alongside her husband, elected President of the Republic, Bernadette Chirac sought new recognition, at the height of her erasure, lived in the shadow of an ambitious political leader. Non-existent and considered old-fashioned, the first lady of France intends to assert herself in the mysteries of power and become a media personality who counts.

Bernadette Chirac must be flattered to be played on screen by the biggest star of French cinema. We would be less. Initially reluctant, the actress accepted the role after reading a script with a comedic tone, a portrait of a woman facing a man’s world, with the ambition to assert her independence and her convictions until the departmental election. A journey which reflects a character not so different from that of her husband, at least in the film, but pulling on other strings.

The end of an era

Coming from the nobility of the Second Empire, Bernadette Chirac, of Parisian origins, forged strong roots in Corrèze with her husband, also Parisian, but a commoner. With him, she deduced an identification with the land which earned them a return of sympathy. But it was necessary to campaign for Bernadette, initially judged haughty and cold, to show herself empathetic and active in the entourage of her president husband. Léa Domenach, daughter of the journalist Nicolas Domenach, a specialist in Jacques Chirac, does not do political work, her convictions not adhering to the Chiraquian ideals, but she aims to “look at the big story from the small side”.

The distance resulting from a benevolent humor excludes any hagiography but speaks, beyond the anecdote, of the end of a political era. That of a generation which recognized itself in post-war France and which had to rebuild it from its ashes. But the subject is elsewhere. It is a woman’s ambition to exist in a world where she allegedly has no place. Léa Domenach infuses a beautiful energy into her subject, with strong humor, in line with a Quai d’Orsay Elysian and feminine.

The sheet

Gender : Comedy
Director : Léa Domenach
Actors: Catherine Deneuve, Denis Podalydès, Michel Vuillermoz, Sara Giraudeau, Laurent Stocker, François Vincentelli, Lionel Abelanski, Artus
Country : France
Duration : 1h32
Exit : October 4, 2023
Distributer : Warner Bros. France
Synopsis: When she arrives at the Elysée, Bernadette Chirac expects to finally obtain the place she deserves, she who has always worked in the shadow of her husband so that he becomes president. Sidelined because she was considered too old-fashioned, Bernadette then decided to take her revenge by becoming an essential media figure.