2023-10-03 18:56:01
Bernadette **
by Léa Domenach
French film, 1h32
The scene takes place in a confessional, in the first minutes of the film. It is 1995 and the wife of Jacques Chirac, then mayor of Paris, comes to pray for her husband’s victory in the presidential election. The music that resonates on the screen at that moment? The Three Wise Men, by Sheila. And these words: “As the wise men in Galilee followed the star of the shepherd with their eyes. I will follow you, where you go I will go/Faithful as a shadow until my destination. » The song, in addition to giving a taste of the tone of the feature film, illustrates its initial premise quite well.
Bernadette, a political animal
By her birth, her education, Bernadette Chirac, born Chodron de Courcel, should in fact, or could have, remained “faithful as a shadow” in that of her husband, helping him in his conquest of power. She could have. However, the former Sciences Po student will make another choice and also become a political animal, in her own way. This is what is sympathetically told Bernadette : how a “woman”, with a conservative image, will gain her freedom and become a popular figure in the French landscape.
However, the viewer should not expect a short treatise on the struggle in politics or an analysis of the forces at work between 1995 and 2007, the duration of Jacques Chirac’s two mandates. If the director – daughter of a journalist – has solidly documented herself to build her character, Bernadette deliberately adopts a comedic tone.
And the enlarged features make you smile: Bernadette Chirac carrying a giant piggy bank with yellow coins in the corridors of the Élysée; Bernadette Chirac given a makeover by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld; Bernadette Chirac trying to spy on her husband while he flirts with another woman (rumors of Jacques Chirac’s infidelity are a recurring theme in the storyline).
Catherine Deneuve, a false candid
But behind the satire, the feature film, gently mocking, reveals a form of tenderness for its main character, interpreted by Catherine Deneuve playing once again (as in Poticheby François Ozon) the false candids. “We laughed so much at Bernadette Chirac, via “Les Guignols” or “Le Petit Journal”, on Canal+, that this time I wanted us to laugh with her”specifies Léa Domenach, the director, who admits she does not share any of the former first lady’s political ideas.
“I wanted to tell a story from the perspective of an outsider. » An outsider with flair. Elected departmental councilor of Corrèze in 1979, in touch with the field, Bernadette Chirac was a bit of a lantern for her husband, recalls the film, recounting how she anticipated a second round of Jacques Chirac facing Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2002, without be heard. Thanks to this mixture of farce and tenderness, and even if all the gags are not equal, the comedy hits the mark. Vote Bernadette.
#Bernadette #Chirac