''The French Minister'' (french: link=no, Quai d'Orsay) is a 2013 French

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, s ...

. Based on ''

Quai d'Orsay The Quai d'Orsay ( , ) is a quay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the left bank of the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. The Quai becomes the Quai Anatole-France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai Branly west of t ...

'', a comic strip by

Christophe Blain Christophe Blain (born 10 August 1970) is a French comic book author. Life and career Blain was born in Gennevilliers. He studied visual arts in Cherbourg and began drawing comics during his military service, first published by Albin Miche ...

and Abel Lanzac, the film takes an initially comedic look at the

French Foreign Ministry The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs () is the Ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to th ...

under

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

but moves into more serious territory as France, in co-operation with Germany, opposes the

2003 Invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. In January 2014, the film received three nominations at the

39th César Awards The 39th Annual César Awards ceremony, presented by the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques (Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma), was held on 28 February 2014, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. '' Me, Myself and Mum'' re ...

, with

Niels Arestrup Niels Arestrup (; born 8 February 1949) is a French-Danish actor, film director and screenwriter. He has won three César Awards. Biography Arestrup was born in Paris into a family of modest means; his father was Danish and his mother was Br ...

winning the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Plot

After graduating from the ''

École nationale d'administration The École nationale d'administration (generally referred to as ENA, en, National School of Administration) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by President Charles de Gaulle and principal author of the 1958 Constitution Michel Deb ...

'', which trains France's leaders in the public and private sectors, Arthur Vlaminck lands a job as speechwriter in the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. Existing senior advisers do not welcome a talented newcomer who may become a competitor but his abilities are recognised by the Minister and, most important, by Maupas, the career official heading the department. That said, coming up with the right words for the constantly changing world situation and the constantly changing reactions of the Minister proves no easy task. He gets hastily written drafts past Maupas, and past other senior advisers who rubbish them, only to find that the Minister's needs have changed. The film ends in February 2003 with a re-enactment of the actual speech by Dominique de Villepin to the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

, at which he contradicted claims by Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld and argued passionately for disarmament of Iraq but not invasion.

Cast

Thierry Lhermitte Thierry Lhermitte (; born 24 November 1952) is a French actor, director, writer and producer, best known for his comedic roles. He was a founder of the comedy troupe '' Le Splendid'' in the 1970s, along with, among others, Christian Clavier, Gé ...

as Alexandre Taillard de Worms (based on

), French Minister of Foreign Affairs * Raphaël Personnaz as Arthur Vlaminck, a young speechwriter *

as Claude Maupas, the phlegmatic civil servant who actually runs the ministry *

Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...

as Valérie Dumontheil, special adviser on Africa *

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She also had a prolific career ...

as Molly Hutchinson, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature * Anaïs Demoustier as Marina, Arthur's fiancée * Alix Poisson as Odile, Maupas' secretary * Sonia Rolland as Nathalie, special adviser on relations with

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Marie Bunel Marie Bunel (born 1961) is a French film and stage actress. Biography Bunel was born on 27 May 1961 in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, France. She attended the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in West Hollywood, California and to ...

as Martine, the minister's secretary *

Thomas Chabrol Thomas Chabrol (born 24 April 1963) is a French actor, director and screenwriter. Filmography On stage References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chabrol, Thomas 1963 births 20th-century French male actors 21st-century French male ac ...

as Sylvain Marquet, special adviser on Europe *

François Perrot François Perrot (26 February 1924 – 20 January 2019)Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, near the Reichstag,

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

, as a fictional African country, and the United Nations Building in New York.

Quoted material

* The film sections are preceded by quotations from the Fragments of the Greek philosopher

Heraclitus Heraclitus of Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἡράκλειτος , "Glory of Hera"; ) was an ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Persian Empire. Little is known of Heraclitus's life. He wrot ...

. * The final speech at the UN is taken from de Villepin's address on Iraq at the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

on 14 February 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French Minister 2013 films 2013 comedy films 2010s French-language films Films à clef Films about diplomats Films about politicians Films based on French comics Films directed by Bertrand Tavernier Films scored by Philippe Sarde Films set in 2002 Films set in 2003 Films shot in Berlin Films shot in New York City Films shot in Senegal French comedy films Live-action films based on comics Pathé films 2010s French films