THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE – Review by Loren King
This wildly entertaining film blends stylish family soap opera with intriguing behind the scenes political drama, and gives the brilliant Catherine Deneuve a great late career role as Bernadette, the former First Lady of France. We are told from the start of the film that this is a fictionalized account of Bernadette Chirac’s life as wife of the notorious and corrupt conservative Jacques Chirac (a solid performance by Michel Vuillermoz), the former Paris mayor who became President of France from 1995 to 2007. Deneuve’s portrayal of Bernadette is equal parts Emma Thompson’s channeling of Hillary Clinton in Primary Colors and Glenn Close’s glowering shunned spouse in The Wife.
Bernadette’s political instincts are sharp as a knife, but she’s been pushed aside by her boorish and philandering husband which has buried Bernadette in insecurities. After years of being underestimated, Bernadette decides that its time for her to emerge from her husband’s shadow. Gradually, she becomes more stylish and increasingly confident, offering sharp observations and winning the attention and respect of the public. This transformation comes with the help of her newly hired PR chief Bernard Niquet (a delightful Denis Podalydès) who understands what it’s like to be underestimated and her new found sense of style thanks to fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld (Olivier Breitman).
It’s a welcome distraction to watch a movie about the political foibles and PR debacles of another country’s administration. The President’s Wife presents Bernadette’s situation and reinvention with a deft mix of levity and seriousness. It turns this personal-is-political drama into sophisticated escapism anchored by a performance from a superb veteran who brings style and substance to a role that is steeped in both.
