Sunday, December 16, 2007

A COMEDY OF POWER/L'IVRESSE DU POUVOIR - thin

Here we have another collaboration between veteran French auteur, Claude Chabrol, DP Eduardo Serra and acress, Isabelle Huppert. I am a little tired of seeing Huppert playing these demanding, emotionally frigid, manipulative women - but then again, she does it so well! In this movie she plays a stern magistrate investigating corruption at the highest reaches of French corporate and political life. It is wonderful to see her cut these macho businessman down to size. Naturally, she has a devoted but wounded husband, who is becoming tired of the nocturnal studying and bodyguards. The emotional drama is well played, as are the occasional razor-sharp dialogues between the magistrate and her victims. However, the movie lacks a coherent narrative drive or any sense of the scope and gravity of the corporate malfeasance under the microscope. Screen-writer Odile Barksi fails her cast.

A COMEDY OF POWER played Berlin 2006 and was released in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Slovenia and Italy last year. It opened in the US, Mexico, Singapore, Mexico, Sweden, Denmark and Spain earlier in 2007. It is currently playing in the UK and is available on Region 1 DVD.

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