Catherine Deneuve has been an international treasure and one of cinema’s greatest actresses since worldwide acclaim in 1964’s THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG. Her latest film is THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE, a droll comedy about French politics that premiered in France last year and is finally getting a substantial release in the United States. Just how this film’s blend of fact and fiction concerning French president Jacques Chirac (in office 1995-2007) and his wife Bernadette will play in our TikTok times remains to be seen. Whatever success it has though will mostly be due to the ever-delightful talents of Deneuve making the most of the often uneven material.
Humor doesn’t always translate across the pond – SEINFELD famously was lost on Germans back in the day – and much of the political satire being dished about in THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE will sail past even the toniest of American filmgoers. Still, Deneuve gets most of the laughs that are to be had in this mischievous comedy by turning her long-suffering but quippy wife into a force to be reckoned with, one who eventually becomes the power behind the throne.
Bernadette, which was the original title of the film when it was released in France, has been a politico’s wife for long enough to know all there is about the game of politics: how the “yes men” operate, why power struggles arise, and what the excesses of fame and fortune can do to anyone in a government’s orbit. She understands how decades-old marriages last too, choosing to stay with her husband even though he makes little time for her, cheats repeatedly, and seems to have little in the way of a belief system other than to keep advancing his political fortunes.
From the start, Bernadette faces one indignity after another, and her embarrassment makes for the entertainment in the first act. She’s not allowed out on the balcony to wave to the adoring voters. The First Lady of France has to sit up front in the limousine with the chauffeur while Chirac huddles with his daughter/adviser in the back seat. Heck, poor Bernadette can’t even be with him at the same table for a state dinner, and his lackeys even plant a floral arrangement in front of her so she cannot witness her hubby flirt with other women. But as much as she’s long-suffering, Bernadette still sees the truth and isn’t afraid to comment on it. She’s practically the boy who said the emperor’s not wearing any clothes, all while dressed in vintage Karl Lagerfeld.
Bernadette calls things as she sees them and recognizes the common sense that’s good for the French citizenry. Ultimately, her vision starts to shape her doofus of a husband and most of the story’s comedy comes from her rise from a forgotten wife to an invaluable advisor. Deneuve has developed a keen delivery of snark in the past decades, letting her world-weariness and age inform many misanthropic characters she’s played in films such as 8 WOMEN and THE TRUTH. Here, Bernadette is a role that not only gives Deneuve plenty of witty lines to wrap her lips around but it gives her many golden opportunities to roll her eyes comedically too. Deneuve never acts like she’s being funny, but she sure is.
Bernadette doesn’t change as much as she changes the world around her, though in one running gag, she accepts some of her shortcomings and learns to adapt to the modern world. She’s a Lagerfeld fan but prefers wearing numbers from his older collections. That doesn’t sit well with the designer and in one hilarious set piece, Lagerfeld delivers bags of his latest garments to her to salvage her reputation and his own.
We in the States prefer our political satire with a healthy side of bombast and that can be evidenced in the skits on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, the 2012-2019 sitcom VEEP, and in movies like 2021’s DON’T LOOK UP. Thus, THE PRESIDENT’S WIFE may play too subtly here. But while the humor is muted, there is a slyness to the script by Léa Domenach and Clémence Dargent that still hits its targets full on. And Domenach, in her directorial debut, knows how to make the most of Bernadette’s zingers and sarcastic expressions.
Some of this French history lesson will be lost on people, and those attending the film might want to do a quick skimming of Chirac’s Wikipedia page on their cellphones before the movie starts. No matter what, any opportunity to see Deneuve strut her stuff is well worth it. She’s a force to be reckoned with and makes the role of Bernadette a memorable one in her oeuvre. It’s a pleasure to see such an icon still taking risks too, embracing challenging material, be it the Lars von Trier musical DANCER IN THE DARK in 2000, the animated film PERSEPOLIS in 2007, or this subtle yet savage gem.
Deneuve still sparkles, long may she reign.
