While a more in-depth knowledge of the recent history of French politics would probably make The President’s Wife (known as Bernadette in France) a more fulfilling experience, the broad-strokes frustrations of being the spouse of a world leader (and an unfaithful one at that) seems pretty clear in this story of Bernadette Chirac (Catherine Deneuve), wife of two-term French president Jacques Chirac (Michel Vuillermoz), who took office in 1995. While Jacques’ habitual infidelities fractured their marriage early on, when he won the presidency, Bernadette decided to shed her guise as the dutiful first lady and become more of a woman of influence in the country, growing more popular than her husband to the point where courting her favor was seen as a asset to all French politicians.
Her instincts about the tone and mood of the nation were almost always correct, so naturally Jacques and his team ignore her at their own peril. She also had a loyal advisor in Bernard Niquet (Denis Podalydes), who keeps track of poll numbers (hers and her husband’s) and makes certain that her image is never tarnished, even when her husband is caught cheating by the press in a time when he was in the national spotlight (specifically, when Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris). Occasionally, Bernadette had to betray her family’s trust in order to save face, even if that means revealing her daughter’s secret about having once been anorexic.
Other than a few procedural details, The President’s Wife could just as easily have been about Hilary Clinton, who became an ally to Madame Chirac when both of their husbands let them down in their respective marriages. The parallels are undeniable, and their struggles to be taken seriously in a largely ceremonial role were similar, to say the least.
Directed and co-written by first-time filmmaker Léa Domenach, the movie is beautifully anchored by Deneuve, who is so regal in her performance you forget she isn’t playing royalty. There’s an amusing running joke about how all of her outfits are dated by several decades, but because she wears almost all Karl Lagerfeld clothes, he simply pays her an emergency visit to dress her in his more modern designs, making her not only regal but trendy.
Part political powerhouse, part media darling, the film goes into the inner workings of the Chirac presidency, the Elysée Palace residency, and her relationship with other politicians and the dreaded media. I was particularly drawn into the couple’s relationship with future president Nicolas Sarkozy (Laurent Stocker), who was one of their dearest friends and later betrayed them, despite being eager to get back in their good graces to insure he was Chirac’s successor. In doing so, he approached Bernadette to bridge the gap between the two men.
We see Bernadette frequently defy her husband and his advisors, but it’s clear that she loves her husband completely and always worked hard to guarantee his victories, because keeping him in power kept her in power as well. Part love affair/part business coupling, their relationship was complicated, awkward at times and spirited, but built on a type of mutual respect that I’m guessing most civilian couples might not understand or appreciate. It’s a kind of love we don’t often see portrayed in films, and that makes it worth a viewing.
The President's Wife is now in theaters.
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