Sorry, this movie sucks

Boring

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

In the vein of biting political satires like 'In the loop' and 'Veep' (both having a lot of talent in common, both in front of, and behind the camera) and maybe even yesteryear's 'Yes, Minister', this work of art, based on a popular French graphic novel (informed by this movie's curator at the viewing venue) is as entertaining as those other works are. This also has similarities to the Michael Keaton | Geena Davis starrer, 'Speechless' (which could've had more bite, to be honest).There is also a lot of insight that seems to have gone into creating some timely and topical content (and I don't just refer to the running gag with the funny acronym for 'NATO') wrt France and its role in World politics, while keeping the tropes of the genre the same - viz, wheels-within-wheels, political machinations, permanently and consistently dealing only in abstractions, heavy impact from minuscule statements (something that literally drove 'In the loop') etc.The movie also shines a light into the personal lives of a few of our leads, also (in my opinion) boldly touching on how personal recommendations from proximity to powerful people is the only way to get quite a few things done, regardless of geo. The little things, that kept running throughout unflaggingly, really did it for me - the minister's entrance always disrupting various papers all the time, his tech-savviness or lack thereof (there's a really juvie gag on board the equivalent of AFO, where in spite of the juvie nature of the whole thing, it works big-time, in eliciting more than just guffaws - that, in addn to the juvie-level awkward high-5 moment), one lead character nodding off during meetings (with the Minister being completely oblivious to it - or is he?), airport-venue car seating allocations and its impact (something I thought would go in a different direction, but did not, and while that might not have worked in a lesser flick, in this one, it seemed like the makers took the high road, and I absolutely loved it), each para/statement needing to highlight a particular attribute, the minister's dad reflecting on 'those days' at possibly the most inopportune time possible, the 'fixer's' secretary ensuring that her boss' instructions are carried out (which keeping a caring, motherly eye on him), the running gag about the highlighter (hilarious, to say the least) and much, much more.......There is one sequence, in a restaurant, which has been choreographed like an elaborate fight sequence, or a dance move, or for the local audiences, something from a daytime soap (in terms of quick cuts from various camera positions, for varying perspectives, to provide greater impact) that is, by itself, imho, the price of admission. It goes on for a bit, and is hilarious, to say the least. If French was my native language of communication, it might have had greater impact, but both the acting, staging and eventual sub-titling are so good, that we could only marvel at the feat.Thierry Lhermitte, a la Tom Hollander (In the loop), is your typical foggy minister, but seems to more brains than he;s given credit for. It also shows the Red-Blue mix of bureaucrats around this seemingly conservative politician, who all have 1 goal, seemingly the minister's agenda, and the various tools and methods they use at their disposal to realize it, or a part of it. Veteran chameleon actor Niels Arestrup, playing the Peter Capaldi 'fixer' role, make it his own by doing completely the opposite of what Capaldi became known for, and yet captures every scene he's in, without being as showy, and showing us why it is not completely necessary (love Cpaaldi's interpretation of that character though).Our 'in' is the main (not really) naïve character, played by L'Affaire SK1's Raphaël Personnaz (to be fair, this is what he did before), and the makers let this character breathe, and we always use his perspective to view the various goings-on. His being castigated, his initial disbelief, his being a 'fish outta water' - everything, not just makes us root for this lead, but also gives us the perspective needed not just to get entertained, but also be informed, and maybe even take sides.Julie Gayet, is as effective as she is attractive, and her come-ons to various colleagues, and political courtship rituals are a hoot. The bureaucrat singing bawdy songs (inspired by Gayet's character's rituals, of course), that become popular even in the lead's household, seemed to me, to be a fantastic touch on the part of the makers to liven things up more, and it's great that they kept it as a running gag almost 3-4 times.Not to be missed, and worth repeated viewings.

Anyone who's been confounded by bureaucracy at work will know that it's no laughing matter. Indeed, it can be the most frustrating thing in the world when an obvious solution presents itself, but red tape or bungling co-workers insist on getting in the way. It's a lot funnier when someone else is suffering the quiet ignominy of office politics, however, as evidenced by sparkling - if occasionally tedious - French political farce Quai D'Orsay (The French Minister).The last thing Arthur Vlaminck (Raphaël Personnaz) expects is to get a phone call summoning him to an interview at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (known colloquially as Quai D'Orsay due to its location on the left bank of the Seine). He meets Minister Alexandre Taillard de Worms (Thierry Lhermitte) in a whirlwind interview, and is sufficiently impressed to agree to join the ministry as a speechwriter. As he meets his new co-workers, including the Minister's long-suffering chief-of-staff, Claude (Niels Arestrup), Arthur begins to realise that his boss' public persona might not quite reflect his private concerns or capabilities.Anyone anticipating a grave, serious-minded look at the intricacies of French diplomacy should take note - Quai D'Orsay is really a raucous workplace comedy that happens to take place in the hallowed halls of the French Foreign Ministry. It's not that foreign affairs and public policy don't feature - they do. There's a ring of veracity to the proceedings, likely due to the fact that the film is based on the eponymous comic book by Antonin Baudry, which recounts his own experiences as a speechwriter for real-life Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.But the emphasis here is firmly on the comedy of the situation. Arthur's optimism begins to fade as he's plunged into workaday reality, much of which involves the minister's staff frantically fixing problems while he storms around in the background and screams truisms lifted wholesale from Greek philosopher Heraclitus. There's something almost tragic to Arthur's increasingly desperate attempts to write the perfect speech for Taillard de Worms - it goes through several iterations, the focus shifting (oftentimes nonsensically) as the minister's moods dance, sway and waltz away with logic and good sense. At every turn, Claude is frustrated in his noble efforts to ward off a crisis in Lousdemistan - a surrogate for Iraq - by bickering colleagues and the fretful fluttering of his foolish boss. The film is constructed firmly around Lhermitte's breathless and, ultimately, breathtaking performance. Taillard de Worms is a character who is, in effect, a human hurricane: he literally churns up paper flurries (and thereby makes a mess) whenever he enters a room, flinging out pompous statements in jogging shorts or dragging down a meeting with non sequiturs. A lesser actor would not have been able to play the minister's curious blend of insanity and incompetence - one which somehow works just well enough to make it credible that this character is somehiin power. But Lhermitte does so with flair to spare, whether Taillard de Worms is obsessively speechifying about the importance of yellow highlighters or terrorising a Nobel Laureate at lunch.While the film largely works quite well as a farce, Quai D'Orsay suffers somewhat in its editing. After a point, Arthur's travails and his encounters with Taillard de Worms grow repetitive and even tedious, particularly when the film nears the two-hour mark. That could be partly the point - imagine what it must really be like to live and work with someone like Taillard de Worms day after crazy day - but there's really only so much bumbling incompetence one can take before the comedy becomes a tragedy. Tavernier's film is smart and savvy in its satire but, like its main character, starts to grate on one's nerves the longer it belabours the same point.

In French culture, 'Quai D'Orsay" refers to French ministry of foreign affairs. It is also the name of a best selling comic book which has been adapted into a major film by veteran director Bertrand Tavernier. This is his first attempt at making a comedy film. He has not disappointed his loyal fans as "The French Minister" is able to make people laugh even when the film's theme appears to be serious. As a film 'The French minister' is largely autobiographical in nature as it is based on writer Antonin Baudry's experiences as a young trainee. In the past, he worked as a speech writer for former foreign minister of France Dominique De Villepin. Tavernier focuses on the mad world of politicians who use too much of academic rigor in order to deal with questions which need a pragmatic, practical approach. He shows that things are so bad at French foreign minister 'Alexandre Teilhard De Worms' office that one can quickly understand that a statement dictated in the morning would end up getting changed in the evening. The film mocks France's attempts to get involved in all major conflicts which happen in the world. It reveals that French government doesn't have proper strategies in place in order to deal with all the world's troubles. The laughter is assured as Tavernier doesn't hesitate a bit in showing the idiotic personalities of people working for French ministry of foreign affairs. Lastly, "The French Minister" displays its concern for genuineness by shooting its security council scenes at the actual UNO site.

Satire as was defined in old Greek plays; was the art to just exaggerate reality and became a critic in itself. You do not need to mock it, or change. Reality is fine in itself.Quai d' Orsay (or The French Minister ) is the tale of guy who has to make the French Foreign Affairs Minister's speech.The interesting thing about the movie; is that it never loss focus on where it is going. The guy is just an accessory; the important thing is the absurdity of political events, of Ministers that are only actors and the people behind the scenes that really move everything. Acting are superb. Niels Arestrup gives an Oscar or Cesar deserving performance as the Chief of Staff; the guy that really moves the wires. Thierry Lhermitte as the egomaniac intellectual Minister is equally outstanding.Let's hope this movie gets a proper release and find a public; because i t is perhaps the best French comedy of the year.