THE PRESIDENT'S WIFE - Mark Reviews Movies

The President's Wife, Cohen Media Group

Follow on Facebook | Follow on Twitter | Become a Patron

Review by Mark Dujsik | April 17, 2025

A literal chorus introduces us to Bernadette Chirac, the wife of French politician Jacques Chirac, at the start of The President's Wife, as well as to the idea that co-writer/director Léa Domenach's movie is something of a suppositional biography. The basic story, of the husband's rise to the French presidency and the wife's efforts to form her own image beyond being a mere First Lady, is fundamentally true, but through the singing chorus at the start, Domenach and Clémence Dargent's screenplay announces that it is a loose telling of the real story.

Maybe that's part of the reason the movie feels so distant. We never get a sense of these two characters, apart from the roughest of strokes, or, strangely for a story that it is so steeped in the political climate of France during Chirac's administration, their actual politics. This is more a broad character piece about Bernadette, played by Catherine Deneuve, and her nearly vengeance-like mission to become just as popular and esteemed as her successful husband—if not more so.

The filmmakers might assume too much foreknowledge on the politics of this period and this administration on the part of the audience, however. That makes sense, of course, since it is a French production, but we're talking about decades-old policies and rivalries here, and even those who were in the country and paying attention at the time might be lost. With the movie's release internationally, it almost feels as if we should be assigned some homework before sitting down with the material.

That doesn't make the story or its political backdrop impenetrable, obviously, because it is pretty basic stuff. It just means everything about this tale stays at that most basic level. It feels simplistic as a character study, a satire of politics, and an inspiring tale about how Bernadette challenges the assumed role of women in those politics.

It all starts with the results of the 1995 presidential election in France, in which Jacques (Michel Vuillermoz) wins with a slim majority after a period of disappointments for himself and the conservative coalition of which he is a part. We learn that Bernadette was vital to her husband during the campaign, given her ability to notice trends and sentiments among the electorate that sometimes defy traditional polling. Now that Jacques has won, however, he immediately keeps her in the backdrop, opting for the counsel of more official advisers, such as the couple's daughter Claude (Sara Giraudeau).

This will not stand for Bernadette, who knows her talent for politics and how much she has given up for her husband's ambitions. She soon enlists the aid of pollster Bernard Niquet (Denis Podalydès), another outsider within the administration, to discover what people think about her and, upon realizing that most folks find her cold and impersonable, to reshape Bernadette's public image.

The story here covers the entirety of Chirac's presidency, from 1995 until 2007, and jumps through that timeline, as well as through and past assorted policy endeavors and controversies, with only one purpose in mind, really. It's to witness Bernadette become more popular, primarily by showing more of her private self, which her husband and daughter and pretty much everyone else in the administration finds to be too bluntly honest and sarcastic for the realm of serious politics, in the public sphere. She also takes on a more philanthropic angle to her work, which eventually helps her to cross political lines and gain the support of people who otherwise wouldn't want to become involved with a conservative politician.

The narrative is about as shallow as that throughout, with Bernadette's devil-may-care attitude pushing her past most the challenges in front of her, including cabinet members' criticisms and Jacques' infidelity (There's an uncomfortable scene, following the death of Princess Diana in Paris, that a roomful of advisers learn firsthand of one of the president's affairs). The filmmakers either like the character too much or want us to find little fault in her by bypassing some possible hypocrisy on Bernadette's part, especially when it comes to her other daughter Laurence (Maud Wyler), whose struggles with an eating disorder are supposed to remain a private matter—until they become politically convenient for Bernadette.

We do understand, sympathize, and, to some degree, like this character, mainly because Deneuve is so charismatic in the role. That's to be expected, obviously, of an international star who hasn't lost a step in her decades of work. It's a fine performance, in other words, of a character who exists mainly to be charming and to offer a bigger, obvious message about the double standards and underestimation of women in politics.

The movie makes that point, to be sure, with a little humor and within this dramatization of a real-life story. The President's Wife, though, falls well short of communicating the specifics of those real-world politics (It is noteworthy that a far-right candidate, with some ties to the modern-day political realm of France, appears) and portraying Bernadette as much more than a vessel for the movie's central lesson.

Back to Home

Buy Related Products