L'ivresse du pouvoir (2006)

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Odile Barski (writer)
Claude Chabrol (writer)

Release Date:

22 February 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A magistrate investigates a corporate executive.

Plot Keywords:

Investigation | Car Crash | Gloves | Cell Phone | Nephew

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Jeanne Charmant-Killman
François Berléand	...	Michel Humeau
Patrick Bruel	...	Jacques Sibaud
Marilyne Canto	...	Erika
Robin Renucci	...	Philippe Charmant-Killman
Thomas Chabrol	...	Félix
Jean-François Balmer	...	Boldi
Pierre Vernier	...	Président Martino
Jacques Boudet	...	Descarts
Philippe Duclos	...	Jean-Baptiste Holéo
Roger Dumas	...	René Lange
John Arnold	...	Homme jaguar #1
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Me Parlebas
Jacques Bouanich	...	Le gardien de la prison
Benoît Charpentier	...	Journaliste économique

Also Known As:

A Comedy of Power (Canada: English title)
Comedy of Power (Singapore: English title)
Geheime Staatsaffären (Germany)
La comédie du pouvoir (France) (working title)
The Comedy of Power (USA) (literal English title)

Runtime:

USA:110 min | France:110 min | Argentina:110 min

Country:

France | Germany

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG | Germany:o.Al. | Sweden:Btl | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Hôpital, Le Vésinet, Yvelines, France

Company:

Alicéléo

Trivia:

Four Chabrols worked on the film: Director and co-writer Claude Chabrol, his screenplay-supervisor wife Aurore Chabrol, and his two sons: composer Matthieu Chabrol and actor Thomas Chabrol.

Soundtrack:

Peer Gynt

Chabrol back on form and back in Paris

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.