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      Comedy of Power

      2006 1 hr. 50 min. Comedy Drama List
      82% 45 Reviews Tomatometer 45% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score In this comedy-drama from Claude Chabrol, Magistrate Jeanne Charmant-Killman (Isabelle Huppert) doggedly investigates CEO Michel Humeau (François Berléand), who is accused of participating in massive corporate malfeasance. As her investigation leads her into the upper echelons of government, Jeanne becomes intoxicated by the power she is amassing. Though she faces threats by those whom she would see brought low and by the dissolution of her personal life and marriage, she will not relent. Read More Read Less
      Comedy of Power

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      Critics Consensus

      Light on laughs -- and character detail -- Comedy of Power is nonetheless a timely thriller that unites Claude Chabrol and Isabelle Huppert to diverting effect.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member There's people married to their jobs and then there's Jeanne Charmant-Killman (Isabelle Huppert), the protagonist of Claude Chabrol's slicing "Comedy of Power." Midway through the film, there's a sequence in which she decides, with the offhandedness of a butcher throwing away a rotten piece of meat, to leave her husband. She matter-of-factly packs her bags, grabs a taxi, and declares that she'd like to go to her office. "It's 4 a.m.," the driver scoffs. Jeanne shrugs. Where else would she go? Fact is is that she isn't herself when she isn't working. A prosecutor with disapproving eyes and a perpetually curled lip, we can practically feel the euphoria pumping through her veins as she takes down corporate bigwigs ruined by their inability to keep their egos in check. She's alive - and the smartest person in the room - whenever wearing her occupational facade. Strip her of her professional big-headedness in her personal life, though, and she's without a sense of self. She isn't sure how to love or be loved. She likes being feared more than she likes the warmth served on the side of a healthy relationship. And the film, resolutely cold, is more or less a study of the effect power can have on a person's identity, and how their intoxication with authority is capable of destroying as many lives as a serial murderer. The person being focused on, of course, is Jeanne, and her exploits - and curbings of terminal threat - as a lawyer who rises in her ranking as the film progresses. Whether we like her is muddled - part of us is intrigued, and thoroughly respectful of, her methods of taking down corrupt big kahunas and her apparent comfortability with doing so. But another part is turned off by the way she seems to sniff out alleged wrongdoing like a bloodhound just looking for something to snack on. Despite proclaiming that she really and truly wants to live in world colored by integrity at one point ("It's not the image of justice I care about. It's justice," she snaps to a naysayer), we can't be fooled: Jeanne is a woman who likes the emotional perks that come with controlling someone's fate. Simple as that. But "Comedy of Power" is as alienating as its heroine. Whereas Chabrol's naturalism valuing style has mostly worked to his benefit over the course of his career (his 1995 masterpiece, "La Cérémonie," for instance, was a humdinger of bringing cinematic weight to heinous suburban tragedy), it isn't quite as compelling in the film. Nothing really happens except for the destruction of the psyches of Jeanne's "victims," which, while initially ringing with fascinating ruthlessness, eventually grows monotonous since the movie never takes on the conventional beginning, middle, and end structuring of a typical crime drama. Still, Huppert is sensationally cutthroat, and Chabrol, 76 during production, spins Jeanne's cruel web with a persuasion that reminds us that people of her power abusing renown do, in fact, exist. I just wish it did more than prick our senses - we should feel a sting, followed by the feeling of cinematic venom seeping into our bloodstream. But "Comedy of Power" is too detached for that. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Claude Chabrol's drama is talky, but features another good performance from Huppert. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Claude Chabrol's deeply cynical film is loosely based on truth. Isabelle Huppert is perfectly cast a judge hellbent on attacking corruption at all costs --- which is justly represented by a corrupt CEO. As she pursues justice the levels of corruption go far deeper than she anticipates. Chabrol's odd and abrupt conclusion is truly jolting --- and a bleak view of the world's future. Almost a decade since it was first released, this film has become even more effective and clever. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Una vez má s Claude Chabrol dicta una clase de buen cine Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I like a movie that requieres a certain background to fully understand. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Excellent movie! True story about the prosecuting judge in the Elf Affair, and her having to deal with corruption and apathy up to the highest levels of corporate and governmental circles...and the effect this has on her marriage. Directed by the one and only Claude Chabrol--plus it has the great Isabelle Huppert! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Richard Brody New Yorker Drawing on the real-life prosecution of a recent scandal, Chabrol, a former law student, seems to be having more fun with a film than he's had in years, and it's contagious. Mar 1, 2021 Full Review Jonathan Romney Screen International A sleek, hand-tooled, extremely sophisticated package, A Comedy Of Power is a very grown-up entertainment that artfully walks a line between moral comedy and political thriller. Sep 23, 2020 Full Review Elisabeth Lequeret Film Comment Magazine The film constantly plays out within the borders of a perfectly traceable reality, overwhelming it with an absolutely rigorous mise-en-scn Mar 28, 2018 Full Review David Walsh World Socialist Web Site The film is at its best in its portraits of the politicians and company officials, exemplary representatives of the French bourgeoisie and nouveau riche. Feb 14, 2021 Full Review Michael Dwyer Irish Times [Chabrol's] untypically slow-burning drama is conspicuously short on narrative tension, and certainly not as tightly wound as his finest thrillers. But it is engrossing nonetheless, benefiting from a strong cast and the sting in its tale. Sep 23, 2020 Full Review Edward Porter Sunday Times (UK) Chabrol's observations are subtle, and Huppert is always a strong presence, so the film is easy to watch. Sep 23, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis In this comedy-drama from Claude Chabrol, Magistrate Jeanne Charmant-Killman (Isabelle Huppert) doggedly investigates CEO Michel Humeau (François Berléand), who is accused of participating in massive corporate malfeasance. As her investigation leads her into the upper echelons of government, Jeanne becomes intoxicated by the power she is amassing. Though she faces threats by those whom she would see brought low and by the dissolution of her personal life and marriage, she will not relent.
      Director
      Claude Chabrol
      Executive Producer
      Françoise Galfré
      Screenwriter
      Odile Barski, Claude Chabrol
      Production Co
      Alicéléo
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      French (Canada)
      Release Date (DVD)
      May 8, 2007
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $78.9K
      Sound Mix
      Dolby