Comedy of Power: And the joke's on us

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ***½

Comedy of Power seems to me a departure for Claude Chabrol, and probably a welcome one, so far as he and his audience are concerned. He works this time not from any dark fictional Ruth Rendell-ish source but from a real case of corporate "sleazery" at the top of the French totem pole. (Watch the DVD extras for an interesting look into this subject and how the filmmaker addresses it.) He has also left behind his oft-used small-town bourgeoisie for those in national political, judicial and corporate control. Everything is fictionalized, of course, but the screenplay offers us a thoughtful look at haute bourgeois family life and work environment--in the process giving two of France's finest actors an opportunity to shine. Isabelle Huppert is superb, as usual, as the prosecuting judge (the French system certainly differs from ours) and François Berléand (The Chorus) is funny, nasty and finally sad as her initial prey. The rest of the spot-on cast includes a wonderful Robin Renucci as Huppert's lonely husband and the director's son Thomas (this may be Chabrol's most "family" movie) as the husband’s nephew who moves in with the couple temporarily and becomes a kind of sounding board for Huppert.

Initially, Comedy of Power moves quickly and we must hustle to keep up with all the machinations. Eventually, however, it slows down, until, by the close, both the film and the Huppert character have run out of steam--for good reason, as you will see. While the movie does not conventionally succeed as drama, thriller or comedy, it incorporates many moments from all three genres, ending up, as does almost everything in this director's oeuvre (which now approaches 70 films), as a truthful multi-character study. Along the way, it will make you consider the connections between the powerful in the highest realms, question how far they will go to both hide and unearth misdeeds, and sadly admit that individuals--no matter their talent or doggedness--are little match against a strong and ruthless group. Hypocrisy plays its part in all this, as it does throughout Chabrol's work, so that anyone expecting a comedy from Comedy of Power will come away disappointed. Except in the sense that, finally, in addition to being corrupting and tragic, power is also comedic. The butt of its joke, of course, is all of us.