“He has friends in high places.”
Claude Chabrol’s film Comedy of Power stars Isabelle Huppert as Judge Jeanne Charmant-Killman. Known as the “Piranha” her job is reportedly the “most powerful” position in France, and this certainly seems to be true when she begins a corruption and tax evasion investigation of wealthy businessman, Michel Humeau (Francois Berleand). While Jeanne digs up facts about Humeau’s spending habits–including details about an expensive mistress–Humeau becomes increasingly agitated and nervous, aggravating his skin condition. But Humeau’s distress doesn’t bother Jeanne as she continues to probe coldly and relentlessly into his life.
Comedy of Power examines various power structures within society–the power structure in the workplace, the power structure at home, and also the invisible power network between business and politicians. This latter sort of power is seen as the most insidious and strongest form of power that exists, and yet it’s elusive and largely impossible to track-except for the trail of money, bribes and favours that litter these corporate-political relationships. The term `comedy’ is ironically applied in Chabrol’s examination of power. Although Jeanne, for example, is deemed the most powerful woman in France, thanks to her job–where exactly that gets her is the subject of this fascinating film.
This is a splendid role for Huppert. Career-driven, obsessive and unemotional, she keeps her husband at a distance. At one point in the film, Jeanne’s husband (Robin Renucci) tells her she lacks only one thing, and he promises to tell her what that one thing is sometime in the future…Naturally this statement eats away at the otherwise unflappable Jeanne and she even asks her nephew Felix (Thomas Chabrol) what it is that she’s missing. She’s admired, envied, and feared, but the idea that she’s missing something nags away at her psyche. By the time the film concludes, however, we realise what it is that Jeanne lacks. Humanity. There again, it’s not a requirement for her job.
Comedy of Power examines Power as an intangible mechanism, an invisible, corrupting commodity. It can be acquired by fair means or foul. It can be possessed. Power is also a relative term, so while one may wield a certain amount of power, if pitted against a more powerful opponent, the one with the least power will still be crushed. Power can be stripped away through a series of circumstances, or it can simply vaporize like smoke, and we see exactly how both scenarios occur before the film’s end. And this is where the term comedy comes in. You may think you have ‘power’ but it’s only when you no longer possess it that you realise it’s gone. And then what was the point of it in the first place?
Based on a true story, this is one of the best Chabrol films in years. The corruption thread is a little muddy, but Huppert keeps our attention until the conclusion of this intriguing film.
