The Minister
| The Minister | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Pierre Schoeller |
| Produced by | André Bouvard |
| Written by | Pierre Schoeller |
| Starring |
Olivier Gourmet Michel Blanc Zabou Breitman |
| Cinematography | Julien Hirsch |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country |
France Belgium |
| Language | French |
| Budget | $6.5 million |
| Box office | $6.9 million[1] |
The Minister (French: L'Exercice de l'État) is a 2011 French-Belgian drama film directed by Pierre Schöller.[2]
Plot
French government plans to privatize some train stations. Transport minister Bertrand Saint-Jean is supposed to be a major actor of this reform, but neither him nor his friend and assistant Gilles approve the plan. Popular opinion also disapprove privatization.
However, Bertrand doesn't want to oppose prime minister. While his staff oppose the reform, Bertrand hopes the president will provide a watered-down reform to end popular protest. Prime minister promises first step will only consist in five secondary train stations. Bertrand suffers so much from pressure that he has a nightmare where he commits suicide after reading the five stations are the most prestigious in whole France.
Finally, when Bertrand thought all his staff would abandon him, Gilles ensures him he will stay to help Bertrand negotiate the reform into something acceptable.
In the end the president intervenes himself to arbiter. But contrary to Bertrand's hopes, he has no intention of softening the reform. Bertrand is clearly noticed that he has no say in reform details; his mission is to implement it by the letter while reassuring opponents. Even worse, prime minister and president selected a new generation of assistants for Bertrand in this mission, explicitly ordering Gilles to be fired.
Bertrand silently accepts these orders. The film ends as he walks out of president office hiding how heartbreaking these orders are.
Cast
- Olivier Gourmet as Bertrand Saint-Jean, Minister of Transports
- Michel Blanc as Gilles
- Zabou Breitman as Pauline
- Sylvain Deblé as Martin Kuypers
- Didier Bezace as Dominique Woessner
- Jacques Boudet as Senator Juillet
- François Chattot as Falconetti, Minister of Health
- Gaëtan Vassart as Loïk
- Arly Jover as Séverine Saint-Jean
- Eric Naggar as the Prime Minister
- Anne Azoulay as Josepha
- Abdelhafid Metalsi as Louis-Do
- Christian Vautrin as Nemrod
- François Vincentelli as Peralta, Minister of Budget
- Stéphan Wojtowicz as the French President
Accolades
It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival[3][4] where it won the Un Certain Regard FIPRESCI Award.[5] It received four Magritte Award nominations, winning three, including Best Foreign Film in Coproduction and Best Actor for Olivier Gourmet.[6]
References
- ↑ "L\'Exercice de l\'Etat (2011)- JPBox-Office". Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ↑ Smith, Ian Hayden (2012). International Film Guide 2012. p. 118. ISBN 978-1908215017.
- ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Official Selection". Cannes. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ↑ "Cannes film festival 2011: The full lineup". guardian.co.uk. London. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
- ↑ Hopewell, John (2011-05-21). "'Le Havre' win top Fipresci crits' award". Variety. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
- ↑ Leurquin, Anne-Sophie (2 February 2013). "Quatre Magritte pour " A perdre la raison "". Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 3 February 2013.