The French Minister ( Quai d'Orsay )

The French Minister (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $14.97

Original Title: Quai d'Orsay
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
French ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
French ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
109 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Commentary
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2013 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Bertrand Tavernier

Written By:
Christophe Blain
Abel Lanzac

Actors:
Thierry Lhermitte ..... Alexandre Taillard de Worms
Raphaël Personnaz ..... Arthur Vlaminck
Niels Arestrup ..... Claude Maupas
Bruno Raffaelli ..... Stéphane Cahut
Julie Gayet ..... Valérie Dumontheil
Anaïs Demoustier ..... Marina
Thomas Chabrol ..... Sylvain Marquet
Thierry Frémont ..... Guillaume Van Effentem
Alix Poisson ..... Odile
Marie Bunel ..... Martine
Jean-Marc Roulot ..... Bertrand Castela
Sonia Rolland ..... Nathalie
Didier Bezace ..... Jean-Paul François
Jane Birkin ..... Molly Hutchinson
Renaud Calvet ..... Ambassadeur France à l'ONU

Synopsis:

Doors slam and papers fly in this off-the-wall comedy about French politics directed by master filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (The Princess of Montpensier). Tavernier's blistering assault - based on the award-winning graphic novel by Abel Lanzac, a former government speech writer - zeroes in on fictional Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexandre Taillard de Vorms (a tour-de-force comic performance by Thierry Lhermitte). A human whirlwind and a man confident in France's importance on the world stage, de Vorms takes on American neo-cons, corrupt Russians and the opportunistic Chinese while his hapless speech writer (Raphael Personnaz) endures the eccentricities of his megalomaniacal boss and his sycophantic entourage. In the vein of recent political comedies such as In the Loop, The French Minister is a hilarious send-up of diplomacy and international politics with rapid-fire dialogue and a brilliant ensemble cast.

Alexandre Taillard de Vorms is tall and impressive, a man with style, attractive to women. He also happens to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the land of enlightenment: France. With his silver mane and tanned, athletic body, he stalks the world stage, from the floor of the United Nations in New York to the powder keg of Oubanga. There, he calls on the powerful and invokes the mighty to bring peace, to calm the trigger-happy, and to cement his aura of Nobel Peace Prize winner-in-waiting. Alexandre Taillard de Vorms is a force to be reckoned with, waging his own war backed up by the holy trinity of diplomatic concepts: legitimacy, lucidity and efficacy. He takes on American neo-cons, corrupt Russians and money-grabbing Chinese. Perhaps the world doesn't deserve France's magnanimousness, but his art would be wasted if just restricted to home turf. Enter the young Arthur Vlaminck, graduate of the elite National School of Administration, who is hired as head of "language" at the foreign ministry. In other words, he is to write the minister's speeches. But he also has to learn to deal with the sensibilities of the boss and his entourage, and find his way between the private secretary and the special advisers who stalk the corridors of the Quai d'Orsay - the ministry's home - where stress, ambition and dirty dealing are the daily currency. But just as he thinks he can influence the fate of the world, everything seems threatened by the inertia of the technocrats.

After French yuppie Arthur Vlaminck has graduated at the National School of Administration he joins the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. Vlaminck's ambitious new colleagues try to bully him around while his superior Claude Maupas acts on the other hand rather phlegmatic. Somewhat surprisingly Vlaminck's career gains momentum.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 03 November, 2014.