Catherine Deneuve plays France's former First Lady, Bernadette Chirac, in the film Bernadette. Directed by Léa Doménach, this comedy-drama will be released on October 4, 2023.
Léa Doménach is making her first film with Bernadette, and has assembled an impressive cast. In addition to diva Deneuve, we find Michel Vuillermoz in the role of a funny Jacques Chirac. Denis Podalydès and Sara Giraudeau complete the cast of a film that boasts a number of outstanding supporting characters.
Our verdict
A daredevil project par excellence, Bernadette is a pleasant surprise. Following in the footsteps of the recent Bernard Tapie series, the film is a largely fictionalized account of Bernadette Chirac's twelve years as France's First Lady. Having always worked in her husband's shadow to make him President, she now feels it's up to her to take things in hand. Thrown aside as being too old-fashioned, Bernadette decided to take her revenge by becoming a key media figure.
And this odyssey is a quality one! It's as funny as it is surprising that Léa Doménach wants to turn her heroine into a feminist icon of her time, with a rock'n'roll attitude and an easy punchline. The more she's sidelined by her husband, the more she proves her independence by doing as she pleases, plunging everyone around her into a deep malaise. In short, we discover a Bernadette Chirac as we've never seen her before, insolent and prickly, brilliantly interpreted by Catherine Deneuve who, despite the absurdity of the proposition, is very much involved in the role.
And on top of all that, the film offers us a wide range of delightful secondary characters, starting with a hilarious Nicolas Sarkozy, played by Laurent Stocker. But also a Karl Lagerfeld perfectly imitated by Olivier Breitman and Artus as David Douillet. In short, it's a far cry from clichés, and that's good.
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