The Minister

Bertrand Saint-Jean is minister of transport. He is woken by telephone in the middle of the night: a coach has gone over a cliff and the death toll is high. He goes straight to the scene; the cameras are there and he has to make a statement. From then the days run into each other. There is a privatisation file at the ministry; the prime minister's office wants it from him and he is against it. At the same time a cabinet reshuffle is being discussed. His staff move him from place to place and write his speeches, and when the time to decide comes the minister is alone. Pierre Schoeller writes and directs. Olivier Gourmet plays the minister and Michel Blanc his chief of staff. It is a French production. The film was shown at Cannes and won a screenplay award in France. What is most striking is the rhythm; the film is constantly in motion and the characters barely sit down. The matter it treats is where a decision is actually taken; the minister holds the office but the process is run by advisers and a crowded structure. The accident scenes and the press statements sit together in the narrative; the film shows communication itself as the work. Olivier Gourmet's playing carries the film and the character is explained nowhere. The ending offers no resolution and the political process simply continues. Who it is for: viewers who like political drama and films about how institutions work. Who it is not for: the information is dense, the pace fast, and the characters unexplained.