Film Review
Taking its cue from Stephen Frears'
The
Queen (2006) and Oliver Stone's
W. (2008),
La Conquête presents a
portrait of French president Nicolas Sarkozy which says far more about
the political class in general than it does about its central
protagonist. The film is neither pro- or anti- Sarkozy (if
anything, it serves to humanise a president who is often characterised
as being unsympathetic and frighteningly machine-like), but it is
pretty scathing about the way that politics is currently practiced in
France (and in the West generally), notably its over-reliance on
personality and media manipulation, the reduction of political argument
to facile sound-bites, and the Machiavellian intrigue that goes on
beyond the public gaze. Too wary of causing offence (maybe the
producers feared Sarkozy would veto the film if it upset him),
La Conquête is a pretty
toothless satire but it nonetheless provides a thought-provoking
commentary on the sorry state of our present political system, which
risks being reduced to a tawdry personality contest in which the man
with the broadest smile and lowest morals invariably wins the top job.
In preparing the screenplay for the film its screenwriter, Patrick
Rotman, meticulously waded his way through hundred of books and
articles published between 2002 and 2007, not only to ensure the film
was historically accurate, but also to try to gain a deeper
understanding of the main characters in the drama, not just Sarkozy,
but also his deadly rival Dominique de Villepin and his reluctant
sponsor Jacques Chirac. A highly regarded journalist and
historian, Rotman is best known for his collaboration with director
Bertrand Tavernier on
La Guerre sans nom (1992), a
revealing documentary on the horrors of the Algerian war. The
problem is that Rotman was probably the wrong person to write the
script for this film. The film's preoccupation with historical
accuracy proves to be something of a straitjacket which prevents it
from saying anything fresh or provocative. (The absence of
Ségolène Royal, the socialist candidate and wild card in
the 2007 presidential election, is puzzling to say the least.)
Xavier Durringer's direction is just as restrained and it is baffling
(given his previous work) why Durringer could not have been more
adventurous. The connection between today's political class and a
ruthless gangster mob is made only half-heartedly; a bolder director
would have gone the whole hog and had Sarkozy and de Villepin gunning
for each other on the streets of Paris, like the leaders of rival clans
in
The Godfather.
Whilst the film's unwillingness to venture into controversial territory
is disappointing, the same cannot be said of the contributions from the
three lead actors - Denis Podalydès, Bernard Le Coq and Samuel
Labarthe - whose characters all bear an astonishing (almost scary)
resemblance to their real-life counterparts, respectively Sarkozy,
Chirac and de Villepin. Avoiding outright caricature (of the kind
that strains the laughter muscles of viewers of
Les Guignols de l'info), all three
actors succeed magnificently in rendering their characters credible,
human and (dare I say it) likeable. Podalydès's portrayal
is particularly effective at drawing together the contradictory
multiple facets of Sarkozy's persona, and watching him you are
repeatedly struck by why it is that career politicians are so reluctant
to show their human side in public - just why are they so obsessed with
creating a false impression of toughness and invulnerability?
Podalydès's Sarkozy (softend by a touch of Chaplinesque pathos)
is far more engaging than the man himself.
Despite the exemplary performances,
La
Conquête doesn't quite pass muster, either as a piece of
political satire, nor as a biographical drama. It lies somewhere
in the hazy middle-ground between the two, and its attempt to work in
other genres (gangster thriller) appears to be an after thought and
merely serves to make a vague and woolly film even less coherent.
The narrative structure, which inter-cuts episodes in Sarkozy's rise to
power with solemn shots of the presidential candidate anxiously
awaiting the result of the May 2007 election, should have worked better
than it does. Lacking a central narrative thrust, the film is a
chaotic jumble, like a frenzied montage of news cuttings which the
spectator is expected to assemble into a coherent whole.
Likewise, the conflict between Sarkozy's ruthless political ambitions
and his complicated personal life are handled so tentatively that you'd
think Xavier Durringer was gingerly manoeuvring a block of highly
radioactive material through a maternity ward rather than directing a
film. It is interesting to speculate how different the film might
have been if Sarkozy had no longer been in power when it was
made. As it is, the film is perhaps a little too kind to its
subject and fails to say anything profound or original about a man who
is assuredly one of the most enigmatic and flawed political leaders of
our time.
© James Travers 2012
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Film Synopsis
It is the 6th May 2007, the day of the second round of the French
presidential election. As the people of France cast their vote,
presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy mopes about his home in a
bathrobe, alone and dejected, unable to get in touch with his wife
Cécilia. With the fulfilment of his ambitions so
tantalisingly near at hand, Sarkozy reflects on the five eventful years
that have brought him to this point. This is the story of a man
who, through his tenacity and ruthlessness, wins power, but ends up
losing the woman he loved...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.