In theaters this week: ‘Catherine Deneuve Has a Punk Side’… Bernadette Seen by Director Lea Domenac

On October 4th, Bernadette hits French screens wearing the sassy Catherine Deneuve! The latter skates in the suit of the wife of the former president, Jacques Chirac.

When she arrives at the Elysée, Bernadette expects to finally take the place she deserves, one who has always worked in her husband’s shadow to make him president. Abandoned because she was considered too old-fashioned, Bernadette decided to take revenge and became an important media figure.

To discuss this edgy comedy, AlloCiné sat down with its director, Lea Domenach, whose feature film debut. You can listen to that meeting in our podcast above. From the origins of the project to its great reference, Forrest Gump, the filmmaker talks behind the scenes of this ambitious project.

Note that most scenarios are based on proven facts. Co-writers Clémence Dargent and Léa Domenach read and watched everything they could about the Chirac couple, and came up with a large number of short sentences and anecdotes that they used to write the narrative. The two women followed the chronology from 1995, when Jacques Chirac was president of the Republic, to 2007, the date of the end of his second term.

Bernadette hits theaters on October 4.

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Credits:

Journalist: Vincent Formica

Recording and Editing: Chanel Morvan