The Conquest (Music Box Films/2011)
The run-up to the curious presidency of France’s Nicolas Sarkozy is explored in this dense and fascinating political film. Not exactly a thriller, as we know from his recent shenanigans that he is still the President of La Republic (as the French call their leader), but still engrossing in the apparently accurate scenario of how backdoor deals amid high-level back-stabbing creates odd leaders.
The film, in a fast-paced spoken-Parisian, is difficult to follow, whether you are fluent in French or merely good at reading English-language subtitles. Much happens, starting five years before the 2007 national election for President. We meet the short, pugnacious, bright and neurotic Minister of the Interior (Denis Podalydès) in the cabinet of Jacques Chirac (Bernard Le Coq), a tall and imposing fellow of the old school of French politics. He doesn’t trust this forward-moving man, with a seemingly great marriage that is secretly falling apart, as the wife, Cécilia (Florence Pernel), is fed up with the political wife’s role, and leaves him the day of his election for another man. Chirac and his new Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin (Samuel Labarthe), conspire to let the little monster (as they see him) impale himself on his own vaunting ambition, but the master of New Media saves himself and wins.
It is convoluted, as politics most-often is, but it’s great fun to watch the machinations and counter-moves from the rich and powerful. Sarkozy is currently low in the polls of the upcoming election and may very well be dumped by the populace for a Socialist candidate (and not the disgraced Dominique Strauss-Kahn, either) soon. Which makes this a clever inside peek at French politics.
Patrick Rotman’s script is tight and quixotic and Director Xavier Durringer, a well-known French playwright, keeps the pace going a mile-a-minute. It’s really very interesting to those of us who find the drama of elections riveting. Trying to follow the dialogue on the screen and also watch the images is tough, but rewarding. Worth a giggle, at any rate.