José Bové against tobacco lobbies in an edifying film on the functioning of European institutions

Adapted from Hold-up in Brussels, lobbies in the heart of Europe by José Bové, in collaboration with Gilles Luneau (Éditions La Découverte, 2015), this second feature film by Antoine Raimbault returns to the investigation carried out by the MEP and his assistants to unravel a case of lobbying by the tobacco giants, which has destabilized European institutions at the highest level. A matter of principlea film that can be devoured like a thriller, hits theaters on May 1st.

October 16, 2012, the European Commission’s health commissioner John Dalli is forced to resign for having participated in secret meetings, notably with a Swedish manufacturer of Snus, snuff, authorized only in this country. He is accused of having received a bribe to obstruct the vote on the tobacco directive.

“The Commission must be accountable to Parliament, and Barroso, I’m sorry, he must respect the rule, like everyone else.”

The character of José Bové

in the film “A Matter of Principle”

Suspecting the existence of a plot, José Bové (Bouli Lanners)with the help of Patrice (Thomas VDB), his parliamentary assistant, and Clémence (Celeste Brunnquell), a stubborn intern, embark on a counter-investigation that will take them to the highest summit of European power. Tobacco lobby, compromises by the European Commission, conflicts of interest within Olaf (European Anti-Fraud Office). What they discover during an investigation strewn with pitfalls goes far beyond a simple matter of “undeclared appointments”…

For José Bové, still with a pipe in his mouth, this investigation is “a matter of principle”, more than a fight against the tobacco giants. What matters for him, and he repeats it again and again, is “democracy, respect and rule and law, at the highest summit of European institutions”.

In the wings

The feat of the film is to harpoon and keep its viewer in suspense with a complex affair, a quantity of information not easy to ingest, loads of acronyms, and ins and outs unfamiliar to ordinary mortals… All this in an extremely formal and impersonal setting, made up of neon-lit hemicycles, gigantic halls, smooth carpeted corridors, ding-dong elevators that punctuate the daily life of these institutions.

These places without much added value on a dramaturgical level are transformed, by the magic of the staging, into movie sets. The director ironically sketches these above-ground spaces to highlight the gigantism and depersonalization of sprawling institutions, with complex, not to say occult, functioning, like an impregnable castle, full of hidden places and difficult gray areas. to penetrate.

In contrast, in this smooth and hushed setting, populated by uniformed extras, suits, ties and well-combed, José Bové, mustache and velvet jacket, and his two acolytes, jeans, sneakers and Quechua backpack, with the recorder as their only weapons. the telephone and the photocopier, appear like a team of nickel-plated feet, whose efficiency will nevertheless prove implacable.

José Bové, as an old punk backpacker from the political fight, explains to the young and fiery Clémence the difference between justice and the law, “which helps to keep a cool head”. Later, however, it is the young girl who will push the two elders not to give up, and to fight the battle to the end. “Three generations and three perspectives, to better question our faith in politics”underlines the director.

Their fight contributed to the adoption by the European Parliament, on May 19, 2014, of the directive on tobacco products, the main objective of which was to make tobacco products less attractive to young people, and which includes in particular the neutrality of the package, with the display of health-related warnings on 65% of their surface.

“Office Thriller”

Making a thriller film in the context of European institutions was a challenge. With a team of wonderful actors (the young Céleste Brunnquell of rare intensity, Bouli Lanners more real than Bové, and Thomas VDB surprising in a clumsy and endearing character), a perfectly rhythmic staging carried by effective and well-balanced music, plus a touch of irony, Antoine Raimbault, like a tightrope walker perched between reality and fiction, achieves a feat.

Described by the director as “office thriller”, A matter of principle shows how European institutions, when their proper functioning is ensured (and this is the role of European deputies among others), guarantee the general interest against the financial interests of lobbies, and intelligently questions the question of democracy and ‘commitment.

Thanks to this trio of characters and the European deputies who revolve around them, the film also gives another image, real, on a human scale, of this disembodied instance, too often understood as an abstract entity.

After An intimate conviction, his excellent first film, this second feature film by Antoine Raimbault, a new success, could well make the spectator want to take a closer interest in Europe and its institutions, or even motivate him to go and elect its representatives. June 6 and 9.

The sheet

Gender : Investigation film
Director: Antoine Raimbault
Actors: Bouli Lanners, Thomas VDB, Céleste Brunnquell
Country : France
Duration : 1h36
Exit : 2024
Distributer : Memento Distribution

Synopsis :
Brussels, 2012. When the Health Commissioner is dismissed overnight, in the greatest opacity, the MEP José Bové and his parliamentary assistants decide to lead the investigation. They will then discover a real plot threatening to destabilize European authorities, right up to their summit. Taken from real events.