Queerguru’s Robert Malcolm reviews THE PRESIDENTS WIFE starring the legendary Catherine Deneuve

The President’s Wife, directed by Léa Domenach, co-written by Clémence Dargent and starring movie legend, Catherine Deneuve in its title rôle, is a gentle feminist satire, which pokes fun at the straight white men running France in the 1990s and celebrates Bernadette Chirac who wielded the real electoral power in her marriage to husband Jacques. Although initially reluctant to play Mme. Chirac, Catherine Deneuve enthusiastically committed herself to the project, which was fortunate for the producers because without her, the film might be forgettable. This fictionalised portrait of Bernadette, begins in 1995 on the night of Jacques Chirac’s election victory as President of the Republic, when we see the new First Lady being sidelined and ignored by her husband. Jacques Chirac is played as a pompous buffoon by Michel Vuillermoz in an amusing caricature of the President. Deneuve as his traditional, long suffering wife is perfect in her portrayal of Bernadette. Her calm demeanour hides a range of emotions which are never fully verbalised but which reveal themselves in subtle facial expressions. Having been too outspoken in public, Bernadette is encouraged to stay silent, so as not to embarrass her husband. Meanwhile a mild mannered civil servant Bernard Niquet, played sympathetically by Denis Podalydès, contemptuously nicknamed Mickey by the other men in suits, is enlisted to give her media training. He finds that her popularity rating is low because, after her imposed silence, the public finds her cold and distant. He wants to change that. Following her husband’s highly publicised affair with an Italian actress, the final indignity for Bernadette is seeing him in the garden, peeing on her pet tortoise. She has been ignored and disrespected for long enough. It is time for action. Bernard encourages her to end her media silence and they go on the offensive together with Bernadette revealing her brave, sensitive and humorous sides to the world. Using Princess Diana as an example, they focus on Bernadette’s hospital charity work and look for glamorous celebrities to appear with her at fund raising events. At first things go badly. Unfortunately, a sexy young pop singer she likes and everyone else she approaches, disagree with her politics so she has to fall back on a lumpen Olympic Judo Gold medalist to aid her. Then there is her old fashioned image. In a short entertaining interlude, Karl Lagerfeld arrives fan in hand, at the Élysée Palace to update her ageing wardrobe of Chanel suits. Not only does she need a makeover but the brightly coloured outfits from another era don’t reflect well on his brand. Things improve as she returns to local politics, where after presenting herself as a true friend of the people, she wins a council election in her home department of Corrèze. But her promise of a new high speed train to serve the district is never realised and becomes a running joke throughout the film. As her popularity grows she wins the endorsements of the celebrities she originally pursued and much to the annoyance of her family, she is regularly photographed and quoted in the tabloids. Bernard, has become her BF and there are hints that he may even be her GBF. Together they ignore the status quo, gradually take control of the narrative and build up Bernadette’s reputation to the point where it is commonly acknowledged that she is personally responsible for Chirac’s overwhelming triumph over Le Pen in the Presidential election of 2002. After this victory, all eyes are on her but when she is asked to make a speech, Jacques’ jealousy gets the better of him and he sends her a note which simply reads “Shut Up!” But by then she has had her revenge. Earlier, a covertly gay scene neatly sums up the message of the film. She and Bernard make friends with a much ridiculed Élysée Palace servant, nicknamed Jackie-Pierre. Having dropped the pejorative Mickey with Bernard, she tells Jackie-Pierre that he deserves more respect and that she will call him Pierre from now on. Although much of its wit is cultural and may be lost in translation for non French nationals, The President’s Wife is a humorous plea for recognition of the underdog, which queer people will relate to. It is also essential viewing for fans of Catherine Deneuve.

Robert Malcolm is an Interior Designer who relocated from London to his home town of Edinburgh in 2019. Under the pen name of Bobby Burns he had his first novel, a gay erotic thriller called Bone Island published by Homofactus Press in 2011.