L'ivresse du pouvoir (2006)

A magistrate investigates a corporate executive.

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Odile Barski, Claude Chabrol

Stars:

Isabelle Huppert, François Berléand, Patrick Bruel

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A character study. Jeanne Charmant-Killman is an investigative magistrate, tough minded, swift moving, taking on a group of political fixers who pay bribes and skim large sums for personal use. She breaks them one at a time. Meanwhile, her work takes its toll: relations with her husband are strained, and the group under investigation strikes back by tampering with the brakes of her car and placing a mole in her office. Can she stand up to the pressure, and what's her reward?

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Plot Keywords:

investigation | car crash | gloves | cell phone | nephew | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Pan-Européenne [fr]

Country:

France Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

22 February 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

The Comedy of Power

Filming Locations:

Hôpital, Le Vésinet, Yvelines, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$10,061 (USA) (5 January 2007)

Gross:

$78,917 (USA) (23 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alicéléo, France 2 Cinéma, A.J.O.Z. Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Visa d'exploitation en France #111353.

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Soundtracks

"Peer Gynt"
Composed by Edvard Grieg (1875)

User Reviews

Based on "Elf affair"

This new movie by Claude Chabrol is directly inspired by a true story. The "Affaire Elf", named by the french oil-company, was a large financial and political scandal where several top-level french politicians where involved, such as Roland Dumas (ex foreign-affairs minister) or Charles Pasqua (ex minister of interior). As in the true story, a judge is investigating about some corruption in business between a french major company and some African states. Most of the characters in the movie are very similar to real persons involved in the "Affaire Elf".

The movie focuses on two subjects: the first one is how the judge (Isabelle Huppert) becomes more and more addicted to the power she uses by sending powerful businessmen to jail; the second one is the wide-scale cynicalness of people involved in the scandal, used to play with public money and take advantage of this without seeing anything immoral.

A good movie, very funny because, as stated at the beginning "any similarity with real person or event would be, as it is said, fortuitousness".