Tweet

It's understandable, but a pity, that the English title of this fascinating, very French rumination on politics, history and memory should so bluntly state what the original film deftly sidesteps: that its infinitely charming but slyly Machiavellian "Monsieur le President" (Michel Bouquet) is a none too well-concealed depiction of the late François Mitterrand. In the twilight of his life, he has long, reflective conversations with his young, initially starry-eyed biographer Antoine Moreau (Jalil Lespert), in a clear attempt to exert some control over his posthumous reputation - which is undermined when Moreau carries out his own independent research, paying particular attention to the still deeply murky subject of the President's activities during the collaborationist Vichy regime of World War II. Already enthralling, this material is enriched still further by Bouquet's extraordinary performance, his Mitterrand constantly digressing into philosophical ruminations on everything from French national identity to the meaning of socialism in an increasingly globalised world to the unexpected versatility of the colour grey, scattering well-tuned aphorisms and literary and musical references like confetti (in this respect alone, it's impossible to imagine a British equivalent). Although the film looks like a departure for Robert Guédiguian, it clearly occupies the same moral and political universe as his earlier studies of the Marseilles working class (Marius et Jeannette, La Ville est tranquille), and his teasingly ambiguous, multifaceted portrait of a still-controversial figure offers plenty even for those unfamiliar with 20th-century French history to get their teeth into. Is Mitterrand, as he himself immodestly puts it, "the last of the great Presidents"? Bouquet and Guédiguian convince you that, almost despite everything, the answer may be yes.

 

Michael Brooke on 20th December 2005
View all 112 of Michael Brooke's reviews