Inspired by true events, A COMEDY OF POWER is a sleek, sophisticated entertainment that artfully walks a line between moral comedy and political thriller; master of suspense Claude Chabrol sets this witty examination of the abuses and psychological ill effects of privilege against an oil scandal investigation.
The stunning and accomplished Isabelle Huppert plays Jeanne Charmant-Killman, a.k.a. the ‘Piranha’, a tenacious examining magistrate assigned to untangle a vipers’ nest of high-level bureaucratic chicanery. Her new post catapults her into the public eye and boosts her already considerable power: woe betide the executive whose office suffers one of Jeanne’s surprise raids. But her work as a professional nemesis has its own subtly damaging effects on her personal life…
In a long and prolific career that began with 1958’s Le Beau Serge, the film credited with starting the French New Wave, Chabrol has exposed the foibles and moral weaknesses of the French bourgeoisie with his darkly ironic humour. A blue-chip supporting cast adds to the acidic fun: among the corrupt captains of business, Berléand is impeccably nervy, while Jean-François Balmer gives a masterclass in the art of shiftiness. As for Huppert, she’s at her brittle best.
France/Germany 2006 - Comedy, Thriller (110 mins)
In French with English Subtitles
Director: Claude Chabrol
Script: Claude Chabrol, Odile Barski
Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Francois Berléand,
Patrick Bruel, Thomas Chabrol, Yves Verhoeven