The Last Mitterrand
2005
A young journalist helps the French President compile his memoirs Read more
| Starring | Michel Bouquet, Jalil Lespert, Philippe Fretun, Anne Cantineau |
|---|---|
| Director | Robert Guediguian |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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The Last Mitterrand
A young journalist helps the French President compile his memoirs
| Starring | Michel Bouquet, Jalil Lespert, Philippe Fretun, Anne Cantineau |
|---|---|
| Director | Robert Guediguian |
| Studio | PATHE DISTRIBUTION |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 51 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French |
| Subtitles | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 13 Feb 2006 Production year: 2005 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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Moving, elegiac tribute, deeply affecting... the marvellous Michel Bouquet's performance ...deeply affecting as brave as it is brilliant
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Robert Guédiguian is known for left-leaning Renoir-esque comedies and dramas set in and around the Marseille area and... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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16 out of 16 people found this review helpful
The Question Remains
Mitterand's political career spanned 50 years. He ruled France longer than anyone since Napoleon III and retired to mixed notices but without bloodshed. He cemented the post-war Franco-German alliance, was intrigued by Margaret Thatcher, stood alongside Queen Elizabeth at the opening of the Channel Tunnel and pushed the Communists into the margins of the French left.
We find him enjoying the last days of power in the company of a young journalist who is writing his last testament. Both parts are well played, Mitterand outstandingly so. The plot revolves around their cat-and-mouse game and the young man's personal frustrations, which Mitterand enjoys hearing about.
The key question soon emerges. What was the truth of Mitterand's involvement with Petain's Vichy regime which collaborated with Hitler, sent French Jews to the concentration camps and waited in vain for a British defeat? Did Mitterand, who held a Vichy decoration, join the Resistance as an act of patriotic courage or calculated expediency? Everything rests on the precise timing of his transferred loyalty but the evidence is contradictory. Mitterand's examiner persists and comes close to a formula he thinks the old man might accept on his death bed, only to be told to 'run along'. The question remains.
Mitterand is portrayed in the final stages of his illness, still mobile, mentally alert and counting the days he has set to reach his target before stoically dying of prostate cancer. He scoffs gently at the illusions of youth, refuses to enlighten his interrogator and muses on the secrets of a country that keeps them well. Flying above the French countryside, he ponders its dominant colour. It is, he declares, gray - a colour that offers for him all the variations anyone can want. Watch this film and decide if you agree. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Some politics with that Sir?
At the centre of this film is the relationship between Mitterrand (Michel Bouquet) and Antoine (Jalil Lespert), a journalist tasked with writing Mitterrand's biography. Recent political events are avoided. The film instead concentrates on Mitterrand's life in Vichy. Did he make a principled decision to join the Resistance in 1942 or a expedient choice to join in 1943? Antoine spends much of his time outside his interviews with Mitterrand trying to find evidence to settle this point. The other theme that runs though the film Antoine's failed relationship with his wife (Anne Cantineau). On a research trip to Vichy Antoine meets his second love interest who uncannily looks like Mitterrand's description of the perfect partner. The interviews reveal Mitterrand in various guises, the statesman in the Elyse Palace, the sick old man unable to get out of the bath unaided, visiting his chosen burial place, packing his things. In all these situation he is master. Sharing confidences and advice but never loosing control. Finally calling Antoine to his death bed to tell him he has no last words, then dismissing him. This film will mean more to French political sensibilities, but it is a facinating study of personality and power which you can take with or without the politics. Liked it.
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