‘The woman of the century Simone’
Address Olivier Dahan
interpreters Elsa Zylberstein, Rebecca Marder, Élodie Bouchez, Judith Chemla, Olivier Gourmet, Mathieu Spinosi, Philippe Lellouche, Bastien Bouillon, Lubna Azabal
Year 2022
premiere December 9, 2022
★★
Olivier Dahan seems to have specialized in prestigious historical biographies since his approach to the figure of Edith Piaf. “Pink Life”Thanks for showing his fondness for wigs, plays, and dramatic excesses. Then came the turn, albeit mildly, of Grace de Monaco and now political activist Simone Veil, who succeeded in introducing the abortion law in France in the 1970s. Fortunately, the approach to the object of study is more restrained and serious, less unsuccessful. Unfortunately, that’s exactly why it gets so much more boring.
The director has at his disposal exciting and provocative material, such as that of a survivor of Nazi extermination camps, a wife, mother, and a woman who studied politics and law and became president of the European Parliament after serving as a minister and fighting. for different social and health reasons compared to men. But here, everything has been caught (and chewed up) flat, almost like a succession of key images of Veil’s life. dramatized with wonderful phrases for posterity. Dahan bets the most stagnant academics to tell the adventures of a modern and courageous woman, and it will be ruined. an offer that is at best more informative and educational (ESO level), how cinematographic.