Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Sun 20 Nov @ 8:30pm

Xavier Durringer / France / 2011 / 105 mins

The arrangement of France’s politics has always caused heightened rivalry, as its pluriform leadership divides power between state and government. Xavier Durringer’s portrait parody of French President Nicolas Sarkozy is a mild, if not probing documentation of the politico’s grinding ascendency, lampooning the raw, idealistic plans Sarkozy had for economic revitalisation. Under Jacques Chirac’s (Bernard Le Coq) presidency, Sarkozy (Denis Podalydès) jumps between political roles, gaining public support and ultimate backing, as he bids to take Chirac’s seat in the 2007 electoral campaign.

Durringer maintains a fierce pace throughout the docufilm, reminiscent of the relentless PR storms during Thomas Carcetti’s run for mayor in Season Four of The Wire. Yet this pace, dusted with caricatures of French politicians throughout (notably Chirac and Dominique de Villepin), is more a chuckle at the unlikelihood of Sarkozy’s victory while seemingly sympathising with him as it juggles the debate: is he actually a lefty or a righty? It lacks the grit and edge of satire achieved in triumphs such as In the Loop, while only really providing a chronological insight into Sarkozy’s operation. Durringer does touch on the more controversial side to things – Sarkozy’s relationship with Chirac, his use of the UMP as a source of finance; but it never achieves the depth required to truly investigate the nature of political secrecy and success.