The Last Mitterrand Reviews

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.

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.

Better than I expected

Don't be put off this film if you do not have a grip of recent French history (i.e' 20th century) as although mine was patchy, I didn't find it held me back at all. The film was gripping and not in an action packed sense. Well worth a watch.

Hugely disappointing

Considering the critical praise heaped on this film on release I was really disappointed. The film tells you very little about Mitterrand himself - for example the financial scandals, his affairs and illegitimate daughter, etc are hardly covered (infact Mitterrand's name is not even mentioned in the film). So all that is left is a film about the difficulty of understanding and reclaiming the past - and I just don't think the film manages to pull it off. The relationship between Antoine and Mitterrand felt flat, and even the performance of the great Michael Bouquet, which was no doubt intended to be distanced and arrogant, for me failed to covey the power and charisma of 'the great fox'.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Absorbing and touching

A surprisingly accessible portrait of the long-serving French prime minister, playful to the end, occasionally mischevious, sometimes downright cruel. No previous knowledge of French politics required, except perhaps the country's ambivalent relationship with the Vichy period, the wartime puppet government that seemed to taint everyone in some way, Mitterand included. Nice political parallels in the young biographer's own life, in a 1980s France that is just beginning to break out of a socialist straitjacket. No startling revelations but a lot of insight along the way, and nice performances all round

Veni Vedi Vichy

Yes it's slow, yes it's literary and all the political figures mentioned both living and dead are French and yet I still found this a compelling film.

Am I bothered it barely mentions his illigimate daughter or the scandals of his time in office? I should have been but I wasn't because it didn't matter.

And it didn't matter because this story of the sceptical writer and the last months of the dying President completely captured my attention.

I thought it was a story well told, the acting excellent and it has left me wanting to know more about Mitterand's role in Vichy France.

Oh and one last thing: Eric Cantona's favourite scribbler Rimbaud gets a few quotes.

The Last Mitterand

Very good film. Not one to sit back and relax watching but well worth the effort. Made me want to find out more about the man.

Excellent acting and very good characterisation - at times you thought it was Mitterand himself.

Helps if you know your history

I enjoyed this one, well acted, but it helps if you know your French history. One of the big plot details relies on an incident during world war 2 which I wasnt aware of, so I was a little lost

Over long

This is very wordy and very long. Is it uncharitable to have been egging on the cancer by the end so that the film could finish?

Perhaps, but be watch this film only with a strong pot of coffee and your best subtitle reading specs on.

very French!

Very French film, in that it doesn't tie up all the loose ends at the end of the film! My son said 'so did he die or what?!' of course we know the answer, but there are a lot of unanswered questions from the film and to be honest apart from Mitterand's illness and last days in office, not much is revealed of his life. At the same time, whilst the film was in progress I enjoyed it. On a side note, it's a good film for those learning French, as it's spoken relatively clearly with not much slang!