You forgot! 40 years before Bernadette Chirac, Catherine Deneuve played the famous president’s mistress!

In Bernadette, which hits theaters on October 4, Catherine Deneuve plays the wife of former president Jacques Chirac. Ironically, 40 years earlier, the actor was already exploring the underbelly of power in Le Bon Plaisir, a lesser-known feature film that deserves our attention.

Directed in 1983 by Francis Giroud, the work is led by a very good cast: Jean-Louis Trininand, Michel Serault, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Auclair and Hippolyte Girardeau. Released in theaters on January 18, 1984, Le Bon Plaisir was a success, attracting 1.2 million viewers.

From Chirac to Mitterrand

Catherine Deneuve plays Claire Despres, a young woman who had an affair with an ambitious man who became the President of the Republic (Jean-Louis Trinignan). Claire has stolen a bag containing a letter suggesting that a child may be born from this affair. After that, he informs the president about the incident.

The latter, through the Minister of Internal Affairs (Michel Cerro), will do everything in order to find the letter and not disclose the existence of this illegitimate child. In particular, he will listen to Claire. On the other hand, the thief Pierre (Hippolite Girardot) works as a translator for a journalist and editor, whom he talks to about a letter found in a stolen bag. A journalist interested in the content of this mission conducted research and identified the President’s handwriting.

Adapted from the novel good pleasure François Giroux, the film, without naming him, invokes President François Mitterrand. The latter hid the existence of his illegitimate daughter, Mazarin Pingeau, for a long time. In the feature film, the head of state, played by Jean-Louis Trinignan, would be inspired by the former president. As for Claire, played by Catherine Deneuve, she would be based on Mitterrand’s former mistress, Anne Pingo, Mazarin’s mother.

A strange coincidence, a novel good pleasure Published in 1983 by Mazarine. However, writer Françoise Giroud never wanted to confirm her inspiration. This version is questioned by the biography of the author, which was written by Laure Adler in 2011; The latter claims “Neither the life of François Mitterrand nor the existence of Mazarin Pingo inspired this story, which is more about a similar situation of a government minister at the time, which is still unknown.”

Revealed in 1994, the existence of François Mitterrand’s hidden daughter, Mazarin, caused much discussion in the French press. Even the president did his best to hide this child, the rumor has been around for a long time now; In the end, it was an open secret.

40 years before Bernadette, Catherine Deneuve was already facing the scenes of Élysée, portraying a character trying to emerge from the shadow of a power-hungry man.