Having held a ministerial position in two governments, Francoise Giroud was well placed to write political satire whilst her writing skills had been honed by working on scripts for some of her country's finest film directors.
She has here adapted her own novel, the subject matter of which is contentious. Although she always denied having any knowledge of the 'hidden child' of President Francois Mitterand, the existence of the child was certainly well-known within the circles in which she moved.
Francis Girod's film is slick, polished, well edited and scored by Genvieve Winding and Georges Delerue and boasts excellent production values but alas lacks an 'edge' and therefore disappoints.
It remains emimently watchable however courtesy of its fabulous cast comprising Jean-Louis Trintignant as the President, Catherine Deneuve as his former mistress and mother of his child, Michel Serrault as Minister of the Interior and Michel Auclair as a gay journalist.
For those interested in trivia, there is no such square in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris named Place Jacques Becker. This has been invented as a touching tribute to the great director for whom both Giroud and Girod had worked in earlier times.
Trintignant's typically complex performance in this has attracted a few unfavourable comments but for this viewer at any rate he is ideal. His character is able, like all those who wield political power, to turn on the charm when required but is at heart utterly ruthless.
After all, in Francoise Giroud's previous book 'Comedy of Power', a portrait of the two presidents under whom she served, Giscard d'Estaing and Jacques Chirac, she observed that "any political leader must possess the killer instinct."
