Repetitive jokes take the fun out of this film, writes Leni Ma'ia'i.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Cast: Thierry Lhermitte, Raphael Personnaz, Niels Arestrup, Anais Demoustier, Julie Gayet, Jane Birkin
Rating (M)
2 stars out of 5.
Working from the successful French graphic novel, director Bertrand Tavernier puts together The French Minister (Quai D'Orsay) (Rialto) with the gusto of a stage director.
The minister introduced in the title of the film is Alexandre Taillard de Worms (Thierry Lhermitte), an eccentric man who holds power and ineptitude in equal measure.
Arthur Vlaminck (Raphael Personnaz) is a young academic whom Taillard has given the job of master of ''the language'', which turns out to be a grandiose title for his speechwriter. Vlaminck soon finds out that Taillard is by no means an easy man for whom to work. The minister makes him re-write his speeches multiple times on the basis of his wildly inconsistent political values.
The only voice of clarity throughout the chaos of incompetence and flying paper is Claude Maupus (Niels Arestrup), the chief of staff. The film is composed in a very theatrical, slapstick way, and Maupus offsets all of the energy perfectly.
The plot is essentially a running joke in which Vlaminck writes a speech, Taillard rejects it on some bizarre grounds, and Maupus cleans up after everyone. Initially this is entertaining, but after a while it gets annoyingly circular.
While the film succeeds as a satire of bureaucracy, it fails to rise above the one-dimensional.
The best thing: The shots are often done in very long takes, which at points is dizzying, but is for the most part very well done.
The worst thing: Every time Taillard walks into a room, paper flies everywhere, which would be funny if it didn't happen in every scene of the film.
See it with: A student of French politics.
