Judge Jeanne Charmant-Killman (Isabelle Huppert) begins an investigation of a businessman (François Berléand); the closer she comes to the corruption in political and business circles, the more threats she receives. Director Claude Chabrol based this laidback portrayal of the worst members of France’s ruling elite on the early-nineties Elf Affair in that country. Huppert is good as always as the dogged magistrate, and there’s several humorous sequences that say a lot about the bonds between business and politics… but as a whole it’s lukewarm stuff.

2006-France-Germany. 110 min. Color. Directed by Claude Chabrol. Cast: Isabelle Huppert (Jeanne Charmant-Killman), François Berléand (Michel Humeau), Patrick Bruel (Jacques Sibaud), Marilyne Canto, Thomas Chabrol, Jean-François Balmer.

Trivia: Original title: L’Ivresse du pouvoir.

Published 2007-05-14 15:17