President's Wife, The (AKA Bernadette) (US Import DVD)

US Import

Long the woman-behind-the-man, Bernadette Chirac (Catherine Deneuve, Belle de Jour) arrives at France’s presidential Elysée Palace in 1995 frustrated, and all but cast off by her newly elected husband, Jacques (Michel Vuillermoz). Having worked in his shadow during his ascent to the presidency, Madame Chirac now expects to finally get the place in the political elite she believes she deserves. In Léa Domenach’s whip-smart feature film debut based on true events, Madame Chirac’s rise from invisible political spouse to major media figure—as calculated as it was inevitable—is chronicled with equal parts reverence and wit, driven by Deneuve’s wryly memorable central performance.