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COMEDY OF POWER Send This Review to a Friend
Director Claude Chabrol, one of the icons of the French New Wave of the 1950s and early 1960s, amazingly continues to make absorbing films, as with his latest, “Comedy of Power” (“L’Ivresse du pouvoir”). It is a timely film that explores machinations in the business world, and Chabrol, who co-wrote the screenplay with Odile Barski, has based the film on a real French corruption scandal.
The film’s greatest plus is the performance by the distinguished Isabelle Huppert in the role of Parisian Judge Jeanne Charmant Killman, who undauntedly follows her investigation of corruption and has the nerve to arrest a powerful CEO named Michael Humeau, played with the delineation of power and outrage by the excellent actor François Berléand. Huppert’s understated acting style is well-suited to her careful but determined manner of pursuit.
The Killman role is said to be modeled after Magistrate Eva Joly, who investigated charges of fraud and bribery involving the French oil company Elf Aquitaine.
The drama Chabrol unfolds reaches high in government and poses a danger to Killman’s career and life. As those familiar with Chabrol’s past work know, he is skillful at mounting suspense, as is the case here.
Huppert’s portrayal succeeds in creating the sort of character who could be the center of a television series, as was the case with Helen Mirren in her role as a detective.
But for now, at least, it is fun to watch Killman go after business world charlatans protected by a network of involved higher-ups. A Koch Lorber Films release.
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