The recent surge of film adaptations covering contemporary politicians has proven to be successful, if not all that monumental. Oliver Stone’s W about George W. Bush was amusing, while Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo, critiquing Italian dictator Giulio Andreotti, was exhilarating. Next up is current French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who's fictionalized in The Conquest (La Conquête).
Following Sarkozy’s rise to power starting in 2002, when former prime minister Jacques Chirac wouldn’t choose him as his successor, the film probes into both the political figure’s public and personal lives. With additional emphasis on his former spouse Cécilia Attias, who Sarkozy has publicly stated as the love of his life, it seems dramatic, and delves into elements of closed-door realness disclosed from the public. Patrick Rotman and his knowledge of the inner corridors of French politics, spearheaded the script, while acclaimed French actor Denis Podalydès plays the lead.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s political life appears to be much more suave and dramatic than George W. Bush’s. Subtitles shouldn’t hold us back in checking out this biopic once it gets a U.S. release date.
