L'ivresse du pouvoir

An examining magistrate, Jeanne Charmant Killman, has been charged to investigate a very delicate affair touching political and industrial circles. She puts in examination Humeau, the president of a very large French consortium, which works on foreign affairs. The judge pushes the president and many others personalities in order to clarify all the traffic implications of the affair. She will be bound to numerous influences and his life will be put into danger, also his family life. The film is centred both on large traffics and corruption, which exist on international business, and also on powers (sometimes too big) that exist for examining magistrate. Isabelle Huppert very well acts the movie, but it seams to me that it is not a very great Chabrol's movie.

... could've been better. At least that's what I think. This movie does start with a phenomenal pace and you get sucked into the story, but then after a little while it drags and you're wondering where the passion of the first few minutes has gone. I wondered that and you might too.

Let's take a look at the actors though, because they are doing a fabulous job here. And the movie will stand of fall for you (the viewer), with your perception of Jeanne Charmant-Killman (played by Isabelle Huppert). If you don't like her, than you will hate this movie.

Despite all that, this is still an engaging film, that has a few surprises up it's sleeves, so it's up to you, if this genre is something worth watching.

In Paris, the obstinate and tough judge Jeanne Charmant-Killman (Isabelle Hupert) investigates a corrupt and powerful corporation that is embezzling public funds, and its president Michel Humeau (François Berléand) is arrested and sent to prison. She uses the hearing to collect evidence against the board and lobbyists, and sends one by one to prison. Meanwhile the group sabotages the brakes and the steering wheel of her car forcing her to have the protection of two bodyguards. Then they use a promotion to try to persuade her to stop her work, moving her to a bigger office expecting competition and friction with the also competent and honest judge Eryka (Marilyne Canto) but they become close friends, focusing the same objective. Meanwhile her personal life is affected/ and she breaks off with her husband. When her husband apparently jumps off his apartment, Jeanne has to come up with a decision.

"L'Ivresse du Pouvoir" is another great movie of Claude Chabrol with a plot that recalls the style of Costa-Gravas. The story is extremely realistic about corrupt corporations involved in embezzling public money and a judge that becomes obsessed in sending the responsible to prison and make a difference in the corrupt justice system. All the cast has stunning performances, but the awesome Isabelle Hupert has another top- notch performance contrasting her fragility with the strength of her character that unfortunately is a fictional judge. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Comédia do Poder" ("Comedy of the Power")

Npte: On 15 January 2025, I saw this film again.

You don't HAVE to know the ELF-scandal to appreciate this, but it helps. Not long ago I asked my french prof at the Alliance Francaise to explain these funny french scandals (ELF through Clearstream 2) and he had to abstain: too complicated, even for a native Frenchman.

The company is called FMG in the film: just as Kubrick went down a letter in the alphabet to go from IBM to HAL, Chabrol goes up a letter in the alphabet to go from ELF to FMG. Nice touch! On the other hand, the cigar in the cognac was a tad overdone, to my tastes.

Huppert confirms once again she is in a class all of her own. Rest of the cast, Berléand, Canto, Vernier, Duclos (!); all solid.

For the very hardest core of french movie buffs only: did anyone else recognize the two guards – one bald, the other dark-haired – as Chabrol's homage to Zardi et Attal who did numerous duo's like this for him and other directors? Best Chabrol in years, but my judgment may be a bit colored: after 30 Chabrols, this was the first I saw in a theater instead of on my couch.

I confess right from the beginning to being a fan of Isabelle Huppert. I am also a student of Claude Chabrol films. I say 'student', because his films are intellectual and challenging in nature. This film is a film of our times. And its themes are also timeless. The flawed protagonist, Huppert, lives shamelessly in front of the camera. She is very human, as well as idealistic. And her idealism is personal and competitive, as well as moralistic. Chabrol has captured grand corruption in a simple narrative about people alone and in conversation. Never slick, always homely and familiar. Isabelle Huppert's performance is tempered and unusually restrained. Her aptitude for endowing her characters with mannerism and eccentricity by using simple gestures and facial expressions is in full play here. This is a film that requires effort to appreciate, but it leaves you feeling quite full.