The President

Emile Beaufort was prime minister for many years and now dictates his memoirs in a house by the sea. Chalamont, whom he once brought on himself, is about to form a government. The old man does not want it, because he holds a paper the man signed years ago and that paper could end everything. The subject is not politics but the one thing still held by someone who has given up power. Beaufort occupies no office any more, but he has a document and a memory; the film argues that power comes from information rather than institution. The form is built on talk. At its centre is Beaufort's long speech to the assembly; that passage, about how financial interests determine politics, was widely argued over in France at the time and is still quoted. The source is a novel by Georges Simenon, with dialogue by Michel Audiard. Audiard's hard, sharpened lines are what the film is known for, and this period of Jean Gabin's career is largely remembered through their collaboration. Bernard Blier plays Chalamont and Renée Faure his secretary. Henri Verneuil directs. Who it is for: viewers who like classical French political drama and Gabin. Who it is not for: anyone waiting for movement; the film takes place almost entirely in rooms.