POSTER ART FOR ‘The President’s Wife.’
Long the woman-behind-the-man, Bernadette Chirac (Catherine Deneuve) arrives at the Presidential Elysée Palace frustrated and all but cast off by her newly elected husband, Jacques (Michel Vuillermoz).
In 1995, Chirac is elected President of the French Republic. When Bernadette steps into the Elysée, she is ready for the recognition she’s earned, having always worked in his shadow and tirelessly supported her husband’s journey to the presidency.
Instead, she finds herself set aside and brushed off as old fashioned, cold and sour-tempered. With the help of her chief of staff, Bernard Niquet (Denis Podalydès), Bernadette embarks on a campaign to restore her reputation, undergo a fashion reset and assert her role as first lady by becoming a major media figure.
Léa Domenach’s 2023 directorial debut skillfully blurs the lines between fact and fiction. A tale of female ’empowerment’, “The President’s Wife” is a chronicle of the Chirac years, with delightful gags and bright colors.
Having always worked in his shadow to help his ascent to the presidency, Madame Chirac now fully expects to finally get the place in the political elite she believes she deserves.
The film follows Bernadette during the two presidential mandates of her husband, until the election of Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007.
The film is chronicled with equal parts reverence and wit, driven by Deneuve’s wryly memorable central performance.
This was a delightful film, Bernadette simply wanted to be respected and acknowledged.
And it seems the more her husband ignored her, the more committed she was to snatching her power back.
Simply, the more she pulled away from her duties at the Elysée Palace, the more her husband was irritated and tried to quiet her, with the help of their daughter, Laurence, who served as the President’s publicist. That was until the President was publicly embarrassed when it was revealed that he was cheating on his wife.
Bernadette is straddling a tight rope, not only with her family and one daughter doing everything that the President wishes, even if it means embarrassing her mom when she passes a note to her mom to “shut up,” during one of her appearances—to having to be gentle around another daughter named Claude, who is living with anorexia, a secret that should never be publicly known.
Madame Chirac exerts her personality and position as an effective political figure in her own right, as she embarks on a tour and media campaign in the French countryside.
Meanwhile, Jacques grows angrier and jealous, although his wife’s affable and approachable demeanor greatly helps with his second election
This is such a good film, with Deneuve, the iconic actress, taking full command.
Take a look at the trailer: https://youtu.be/ZKxn_naN6Tw?si=C3I1EruteDderuBW.
“The President’s Wife” opens April 18 across the nation and in the Chicago area at Landmark at the Glen, in Glenview.
Elaine Hegwood Bowen, M.S.J., is the Entertainment Editor for the Chicago Crusader. She is a National Newspaper Publishers Association Entertainment Writing’ award winner, contributor to “Rust Belt Chicago” and the author of “Old School Adventures from Englewood: South Side of Chicago.” For info, Old School Adventures from Englewood-South Side of Chicago (lulu.com)