After La Daronne, Jean-Paul Salomé once again collaborates with the immense Isabelle Huppert for La Syndicaliste, a social thriller due in cinemas on March 1 and on DVD from July 12, 2023.
And for this adaptation of Caroline Michel-Aguirre's book, the filmmaker has surrounded himself well. In addition to Isabelle Huppert, La Syndicaliste stars Grégory Gadebois, Pierre Deladonchamps, François-Xavier Demaison, Marina Foïs and Yvan Attal. All in a thriller that tells the true story of Maureen Kearney, whose story Caroline Michel-Aguirre told in 2019 in the book of the same name.
Our verdict
In this portrait of the real-life Areva trade unionist, Isabelle Huppert plays a lioness, a strong woman who won't let anyone or anything get her down, in a fundamentally political film. It's a role tailor-made for this great actress, who pulls it off wonderfully. The character, ambivalent, calculating and sometimes manipulative, finds herself trapped after an attack. She quickly instills doubt in the investigating police officers, who even suspect her of being framed.
La Syndicaliste is a fascinating film about a woman against the system. The feminist dimension of the story is obviously essential, and gives the film a very special flavor. The only way to silence this troublesome woman is to physically attack her. But even then, she won't let it happen.
What's most exciting about this film, in addition to its complex script, is its cast. With his five-star cast, Jean-Paul Salomé gives pride of place to the secondary characters. Grégory Gadebois, François-Xavier Demaison and Pierre Deladonchamps are very good, as usual, but Marina Foïs and Yvan Attal are simply brilliant. Attal plays the hyper-threatening president of Areva, sometimes frightening, sometimes pathetic, and this is one of his best performances. It's a pity that the staging remains rather static and unimaginative.
La Syndicaliste tells the true story of Maureen Kearney, a CFDT delegate at Areva, who in 2012 became a whistle-blower to expose a state secret that shook the French nuclear industry. Alone against all odds, she fought tooth and nail against ministers and industrialists to bring this scandal to light and defend over 50,000 jobs, until the day she was violently assaulted and saw her life turned upside down...
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