Customer Reviews

Comedy of Power

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

***1/2

In November 2003, after a sensational trial that rocked the Republic of France for four scandal-soaked months, three key executives of that country's ELF oil company were found guilty of massive corporate malfeasance on a scale not seen in Europe since the turbulent days of World War II. The graft, money laundering, and granting of political favors for which these men were convicted extended into the upper reaches of the government as well, so the scandal served a concomitant salutary purpose of finally laying bare that nation's long-established practice of state-sponsored corruption.

"Comedy of Power" is famed director Claude Chabrol's very fictionalized take on the ELF scandal. Yet, while most of the names and many of the details have been changed or even fabricated for the movie, the themes and concerns are obviously very much in keeping with the spirit of the actual event. The always mesmerizing Isabelle Huppert plays a no-nonsense judge who is unrelenting in her pursuit of corporate corruption, obsessed with bringing the culprits - no matter their position or standing in the community - to justice. Refusing to buckle under to pressure from (equally corrupt) higher-ups who believe she is going too far in her investigations, Judge Jeanne Charmant-Killman zeroes in on her "victims," refusing to let go until she gets what she wants. Chabrol and Huppert together create a woman of conviction and strength who, nevertheless, knows her limitations and can even acknowledge what a strain her single-minded determination is placing on her personal life and marriage (whether or not she chooses to do anything about it is another matter).

It`s true that "Comedy of Power" feels a little underdeveloped at times, and the somewhat inconclusive and lackadaisical ending may well leave some in the audience feeling dissatisfied and cheated. For while there is a certain bravery in not succumbing to the need for a pat resolution, the movie leaves us wanting to know more about how everything turns out in the end. Yet, despite this drawback, this is an interesting, and, at times, even gripping little drama that gives us a chance to watch a beautiful, dynamic actress in action. It is Huppert's multi-layered portrayal of a moral crusader who is also very much a flawed and vulnerable human being that rivets our attention and helps us wade through all the arcane trivia of the corporate-world plotting. Chabrol keeps the film moving at an expeditious pace, with a tasty mixture of both humor and suspense thrown in for good measure. But it is in the confrontation scenes between Huppert and her various high profile targets that the film truly engages our attention.

In addition to Huppert, Chabrol has elicited uniformly sharp performances from Francois Berleand, Patrick Bruel, Marilyne Canto, Robin Renucci and Thomas Chabrol (the son of Chabrol and the great actress Stephane Audran). As an ensemble, these gifted performers bring the larger issues into focus while keeping us thoroughly engrossed and entertained at the same time.

As a fan of Claude Chabrol's darker psychological masterpieces like Les Bonnes Femmes, Les Biches, La Femme Infidele, Le Boucher, La Rupture, Wedding in Blood, Innocents with Dirty Hands, Masques, Cry of the Owl, La Cermonie and Flowers of Evil I have to say that I found Comedy of Power to be insightful as an examination of "power" and the various forms it takes but ultimately lacking some of the punch of Chabrol's darker signature works.

In fact I found Comedy of Power to resemble the much-heralded British mystery series Prime Suspect (which stars Helen Mirren) more than I found it to resemble Chabrol's other works. Like the British series, Comedy of Power focuses not so much on specific crimes but on the masculinist culture of both corporate and police work. In Prime Suspect Helen Mirren must not only battle the lawbreakers but also the lawmakers who are not always interested in accomodating female intrusions into what they see as a traditionally male practice. Similarly, Isabelle Huppert as Jeanne Charmant-Killman battles not just corporate greed in Comedy of Power but male resentment of her success on both the personal and professional fronts. Chabrol is interested in looking at the way power changes people, how it affects their self-image, their perception of reality, their values, and the way they treat others. At first we think that the focus will be on the offenders but soon we realize that the focus is on Jeanne Charmant-Killman herself. In the course of the film Huppert prosecutes several greedy corporate embezzlers and with each success she gains even more public notoriety. But as her notoriety increases her focus narrows and she begins prioritizing her life according to her need for more and more of that professional success. As a result her personal life suffers. So, like many of Chabrol's other films this too is a tale of marital betrayal but here the betrayal is not sexual but an addiction to "power" and a very specific kind of power, the kind that allows her to feel empowered by disempowering men.

Huppert is certainly fascinating to watch as she evolves into a creature that rejects the company of any man that is not subordinate to her. Therefore her favorite male companion is her bright but ambitionless nephew "Felix" (played by Claude Charbrol's son, Thomas). Felix in many ways is like Jeanne in so far as he looks upon the world dispassionately. Jeanne and Felix are reminiscent of many other characters in Chabrol's films who seem not to have any or desire any emotional involvement with anyone. Therefore it makes perfect sense that Chabrol should be interested in the way that this psychopathology plays out in the professional world.

Fascinating film. I prefer Chabrol's films that deal with the dark nature of desire but this one is defintely a valuable addition to Chabrol's already impressive catalog (he's made about 70 films).

I've never seen Isabelle Huppert look so cute in a well-paid working woman way. I love her character's calm and efficiency and complete indifference to the sweaty fumblings of the men sitting across from her desk.

We just saw this on TV, fortunately. We like Chabrol's films - the ones we have seen - but
this film took two evenings to get through. Not much of a story, and done sluggishly - sorry to say.
Try to rent it, if you are a Chabrol fan.

The female judge is played as the all-knowing eye, and the corrupt men she prosecutes are portrayed as dummies, venal with power and the misplaced belief that they can outfox the woman. Based on a real French scandal, this movie probably plays better to French audiences who can appreciate the reality upon which it's based. To Americans, it's all a bit sluggish and not fleshed out enough.

Few things are as satisfying to hear as "Do you know who I am?" when the person saying it is a self-assured business kingpin and the person he's saying it to is a prosecutor who is about to publicly nail the kingpin's hide to the courthouse door. All those swaggering peer-to-peer dealings -- private exchanges of huge amounts of money, stock manipulation, cheating employees of their retirement funds, obscene executive salaries, back dating options, boardroom favors, living the good life on the shareholders' nickel (think of a $6,000 shower curtain) -- suddenly have consequences that the company's high-priced legal teams can't rationalize away.

In the case of Claude Chabrol's Comedy of Power (Ivresse du Pouvoir, L'), massive corruption reaches to the top of a quasi-Government corporation. "These funds are at the disposal of political leaders. It's only normal and it happens everywhere," says one worldly, cigar smoking official. The person who plans to pull down this corrupt heap by going after the leaders is Investigating Magistrate Jeanne Charmant-Killman. Her nickname is "the piranha." Isabelle Huppert plays her with charming, relentless amusement.

The film gradually moves from the immensely satisfying techniques of senior executive humiliation to our slow involvement with Charmant-Killman as a person. All the confidant, comfortable, aging men in their well-cut suits (many with the red thread of the Legion of Honor sewn in their lapels) attempt to bluster, or flatter, or condescend their way out of her office. She delights, and so do we, in reducing them to self-pitying prison inmates.

Jeanne Charmant-Killman is a woman with issues, but we're all for her even when her relentless drive begins to affect her marriage. Her husband, a doctor from a good French family, for some reason doesn't appreciate being referred to as Mr. Jeanne Charmant-Killman. Those issues may have to do with men in power, but there are larger issues, too. "It's not the image of justice I care about," she says at one point to her more flexible superior, "it's justice." It's not too long before the brakes fail on her car, her office is vandalized, she has bodyguards and we all learn that the corruption goes higher than simply a company's executive suite. How do things end? Let's just say that sincere outrage is usually boring in a film. With Comedy of Power we have witty disillusionment to be satisfied with, and with the hope that this world has more Jeanne Charmant-Killmans.

Claude Chabrol as the director and Isabelle Huppert as Charmant-Killman give us a vastly entertaining black comedy of venality and schadenfreude, something that's dark, witty, assured and not completely cynical. What could be better than that? Well, how about nailing all those politicians who earn modest salaries as our elected representatives and then wind up as millionaires shortly after they retire from office. Somebody send for Jeanne Charmant-Killman.

The DVD transfer is fine. There is an interesting extra which discusses how the movie was made. The idea came from the Elf Aquitaine scandal in France, which was uncovered in 1994. The executives of this huge oil firm were caught in the middle of the biggest fraud since WWII. They used the firm as their own piggybank, spending huge amounts of the company's money on everything from political kickbacks to expensive mistresses, jewelry and villas. French magistrate Eva Joly uncovered the rock and smashed a large number of the scurrying bugs. Chabrol says at the start, with tongue in cheek, I think, that any resemblance to actual events and people is entirely coincidental.

This is a film about a case of political and financial corruption and his personal consequences for the private lives of the woman in charge of the investigation and his family. The final result is biased and unbalanced.
We see: in Paris, a female judge played with excessive unexpressivity and dryness by Isabelle Huppert, investigates some tot politicians who have suborned leaders of ex French colonies from African countries. The judicial summary is enormous and requires innumerable hours of investigation to the judge.
Until here, this movie is well achieved, but the personal implications for the husband and brother of this judge, very important, are developed poorly in very short time. Furthermore, this film is impudently feminist and pretends more or less to show women must be on top of power without be supported by much reasons, while men are stupid, weaker or corrupt people. Yes, you can agree with all these points of view or not, but as it were, a movie must be fully explained. This isn't the case, as the facts are so presented without any discussion. The husband of the judge is a weak physician which pass a strong mental crisis, and the brother is an irresponsible young man, which has abandoned his work to dedicate to play poker professionally, and I al least, think all that are biased details very debatable and badly explained.