The Minister

Not really, but I really couldn't begin to tell you what the movie is about. Well it is about politics and it seems to be quite straightforward most of the time (with a fantastic lead performance, that should earn the actor recognition), but there is more to than meets the eye. Even when things meet the eye (the eccentric, weird and completely strange intro to the movie), you're not sure if there is more to it than just that.

The inciting incident, where we only see the aftermath, will have its mirror scene, that will at least startle you. The other reviewer said it too, the impact of that scene is more than just powerful. It freezes you in a very strange way. I can't put my finger on it, but this movie is something that you should watch, if you like dramas and looking behind curtains. You might see things in there, that I didn't notice.

Films about politicians work best when they are concerned with real people and real events. JFK is a fine example. There are others. But reduced to made up names and made up events plots have to be really strong and clear to work as well. You can not get away with a lot of slick atmosphere, which is what you get with this movie. Like so much of French film making today, style not only triumphs over substance - it becomes the substance. Here, ministers talk on mobile phones and sound serious. They sign documents and visit the scenes of disasters and make heart felt speeches. We are given a peep behind closed doors, doors that hide what is really going on in the power wars that politicians wage and which affect all of us. But these are not real politicians. Just a bunch of names that mean nothing. The movie opens with a nude woman climbing into the mouth of a crocodile. Nothing to do with the plot but it is the best scene by a mile. And the French made Riffi!!!! Quality acting, though. The lead in particular.

The car crash comes out of nowhere, on an abandoned road with no traffic either way: the crazy suddenness of it, the violence leading to a death, it's a tremendous piece of film-making. Editing, camera work and sound all come together impressively.

The film is a bit loose in the narration, there are perhaps too many small roles that don't have much to do with the central characters, but all in all this is a picture that is worth seeing. Olivier Gourmet, whom I have enjoyed in many films over the years, here shows some impressive acting skills. This politician is in trouble: he's got to close some train stations and the union is on his back--in France the unions are much more powerful than in North America. His desire not to make waves runs up against political realities; he's running out of time. Philippe Scholler also wrote the music for the film; it's very evocative.

The storyline of this film is really inconsequential, what is important here is the strange inner trip into the high sphere of political power in France. We've all heard that power corrupts. In this films, it does not so much corrupts as corrodes. The compromissions, the betrayals small and large, the disasters. In the middle of the movie there is a very important scene that takes everyone by surprise. The scene is violent, very real, astonishing, yet full of symbols. I loved the civil servant played by Michel Blanc. I think this is the role of his life.

I don't want to say more because I do not want to spoil the film. In my opinion this is a very unusual masterpiece. Special mention for the sound editing.

I saw this last year as part of a French Film Fest in Boston; it floored me then, and when I saw it again this year, it floored me again. Thankfully 2 other reviewers on its IMDb page-Philippe Guenot and hatugai - say it as well or better than I ever could.

I'm sure I missed a lot of messages that politically aware French people would not miss, but , in spite of that, there was still an abundance of rich material to absorb . That Olivier Gourmet is really something. I had admired his work in The Son and The Promise , but The Minister will be calling card for Gourmet in the same way Raging Bull was a calling card for DeNiro.I want to see other films by Gourmet and this screenwriter/director.