Bernadette (2023)

The President's Wife is a sympathetic and interesting film about a real character - in fact, he is still alive - but without the constraint and partiality with which biopics are usually shot. Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic from 1997 to 2007, played an important role in French and international politics at the turn of the century.

His wife, Bernadette, the protagonist of the film, is not, however, well known outside France, and Léa Domenach's portrayal of her is welcome.

The script focuses on the central decade of the president's political life, but through it she describes Bernadette Chirac's hidden but active past.

The film is lucid and humorous, with excellent scenes (Lagerfeld, the football match, the title of the book...) and minute by minute the film grows in its apparent inanity.

This first feature film by Léa Domenach is very promising. The director is cautious, a great virtue, and opts for a short, agile and expository film.

Politically aseptic, which is also to be welcomed, she does not shirk the fraudulent underbelly, the connections and the attempts to manipulate the press (and vice versa).

Without feminist allegations, it confirms the potential of women in the positions they have played or aspire to occupy, making the story inspiring without being pamphleteering.

Some devices, such as the Greek tragedy-like gospel chorus, can be jarring and are by no means original, but they give the play a light-hearted feel.

This helps, at least on a personal level, not to give too much importance to the political characters, who give enough to themselves.

It's not a big laugh, although I did get a good laugh out of it, but it does easily bring a smile to the audience's face, thanks to some witty situations, always with good dialogue and excellent performances. No one and nothing is dull, and it's a pleasure to see that the great and already very veteran Catherine Deneuve is still in top acting form.