The rise of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and simultaneous estrangement from his wife Cécilia are the subjects of this drama. Sarkozy’s (Denis Podalydès) wily maneuvers to pressure the man he would replace, Jacques Chirac (Bernard Le Coq), and circumvent his rival, Dominique de Villepin, will appeal to those who see politics through a cynical eye. But a more nuanced conclusion from this character study is that policy cannot be achieved without politics.
Curiously, neither the woman he defeated to become president, Ségolène Royal, nor the one he would make his second wife, Carla Bruni, appear as characters. (Royal is, however, the subject of a humorous imitation by a Sarkozy aide helping to prepare him to debate her.) But in Cécilia (Florence Pernel), we see a character who is prepared to assist her husband in his ambitions but, unlike so many wives of prominent politicians, not to surrender to them.
viewed 3/1/12 7:10 at Ritz Bourse and reviewed 3/10/12
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