Valery Giscard d’Estaing, the Spectacle of Power

Category History
Duration 2x52 min
Year 2002
Synopsis
In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was elected President of the French Republic. In the same breath, he appointed his Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac. The first few months were filled with reformist euphoria. But if the tandem failed after two years, was this break-up and the ensuing struggle the cause of the right's defeat in 1981? Giscard will keep the painful memory of a relentless battle, fought throughout his seven-year tenure, on both his right and his left. The film shows us an ex-president who agrees to talk about his mistakes...
Director
William Karel
Executive producer
Dominique Tibi
Broadcaster
France 3
Distributor
sales@rocheproductions.com
Available version
French
Fascinating film, from the first to the last second.
L’Express
Prodigious work on VGE's septenate finally restored in its grandeur and its shortcomings, according to a story that William Karel has constructed as that of the politically murderous kiss of the spider-man Jacques Chirac.
Télérama
Masterpiece of analysis and intelligence.
Libération
Succulent documentary. A stinging picture of the intrigues and betrayals inherent in power.
Le Figaro
A skillfully staged and exciting immediate history lesson.
Le Monde
Palace battles, conquest of power, war of the chiefs. This is the argument of VGE, the theater of power, brilliant and fascinating documentary (...) William Karel's strength is to succeed in making a real novel of struggle for power.
France Soir

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