''The Minister'' (french: L'Exercice de l'État) is a 2011 French-Belgian political drama film directed by Pierre Schöller.

Plot

French Transport Minister Bertrand Saint-Jean arrives at the scene of a serious bus crash with many fatalities. He later attends a news interview where he is asked about the government's plans to privatize some train stations as part of a budget reform. Bertrand is supposed to be a major facilitator of this reform, but neither he nor his friend and assistant Gilles approve the plan. Popular opinion also disapproves of the privatization. However, Bertrand doesn't want to oppose the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. While his staff oppose the reform, Bertrand hopes the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

will provide a watered-down reform to end popular protest. The Prime Minister promises the first step will only consist of five secondary train stations. Bertrand suffers so much from pressure that he has a nightmare in which he commits suicide after reading the five stations are the most prestigious in all of France. Finally, when Bertrand thought all his staff would abandon him, Gilles ensures him he will stay to help Bertrand negotiate the reform into something acceptable. In the end, the President intervenes himself to arbitrate. But contrary to Bertrand's hopes, he has no intention of softening the reform. Bertrand clearly noticed that he has no say in the reform details; his mission is to implement them to the letter while reassuring opponents. Even worse, the Prime Minister and President have already selected a new generation of assistants for Bertrand in this mission, explicitly ordering Gilles to be fired. Bertrand silently accepts these orders. The film ends as he walks out of the President's office hiding how heartbreaking these orders are.

Cast

Olivier Gourmet Olivier Gourmet (born 22 July 1963) is a Belgian actor. Gourmet was born in Namur. He won the Best Actor award at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival for his role in '' Le Fils'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. He also appeared in '' La Promess ...

as Bertrand Saint-Jean, Minister of Transport * Michel Blanc as Gilles * Zabou Breitman as Pauline * Sylvain Deblé as Martin Kuypers * Didier Bezace as Dominique Woessner *

Jacques Boudet Jacques Boudet (born 29 December 1939) is a French stage and screen actor. He had great success in the 1980s with his appearance in ''Exercises in Style'', and is featured in the film ''The Names of Love'' (2010). In cinema, he frequently app ...

as Senator Juillet *

François Chattot François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Ki ...

as Falconetti, Minister of Health * Gaëtan Vassart as Loïk * Arly Jover as Séverine Saint-Jean * Eric Naggar as the French Prime Minister * Anne Azoulay as Josepha * Abdelhafid Metalsi as Louis-Do * Christian Vautrin as Nemrod * François Vincentelli as Peralta, Minister of Budget * Stéphan Wojtowicz as the French President

Accolades

It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the

2011 Cannes Film Festival The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South ...

where it won the Un Certain Regard

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

Award. It received four Magritte Award nominations, winning three, including Best Foreign Film in Coproduction and

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

for Olivier Gourmet.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Minister 2011 films 2011 drama films French political drama films Belgian drama films 2010s French-language films 2010s political drama films Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor César Award-winning performance Magritte Award winners 2010s French films