''Number One'' (french: Numéro une), also released as ''Woman Up!'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, is a 2017 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Tonie Marshall Tonie Marshall (29 November 1951 – 12 March 2020) was a French-American actress, screenwriter, and film director. In 2000, she became the first female director to win a César award for her film ''Venus Beauty Institute.'' Life and career Ma ...

, her last film before her 2020 death. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the

2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...

Background

According to Marshall, the original idea of ''Number One'' was back in 2009 for a series that follows eight women leaders working in industry, politics, media, and sports. However, no TV Channel was interested. In 2017, she recovered the idea for a feature film. She reduced the number of characters and focused on just one women, Emmanuelle Blachey. For the film, Marshall researched the female corporative world through in-depth discussions.

Synopsis

Emmanuelle Blachey (

Emmanuelle Devos Emmanuelle Devos (born 10 May 1964) is a French actress. She is the daughter of actress Marie Henriau. She won the César Award for Best Actress in 2002 for her performance in ''Sur mes lèvres'', directed by Jacques Audiard. She has also been ...

) is an ambitious corporate manager that aspires to become the first managing director of a major French company. However, she faces vicious sexism.

Cast

as Emmanuelle Blachey *

Suzanne Clément Suzanne Clément (born 12 May 1969) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in Xavier Dolan's arthouse films ''I Killed My Mother'' (2009), ''Laurence Anyways'' (2012), and '' Mommy'' (2014). With Emilie DeQuenne, she shared the Un Cert ...

as Véra Jacob * Richard Berry as Jean Beaumel *

Sami Frey Sami Frey (born Samuel Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Iranian Jewish descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Bande ...

as Henri Blachey *

Benjamin Biolay Benjamin Biolay (; born 20 January 1973) is a French singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the brother of singer Coralie Clément—whose first three albums he wrote and produced—and the ex-husband of Chiara Mastroiann ...

as Marc Ronsin *

Francine Bergé Francine Bergé (born 21 July 1938, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions a ...

as Adrienne Postel-Devaux *

Bernard Verley Bernard Verley (born 4 October 1939) is a French actor and producer. Biography Former student of les ''Beaux-Arts'' in Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. O ...

as Jean Archambault * John Lynch as Gary Adams

Reception

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 11 reviews, and an average rating of 7.5/10.

References

External links

* 2017 films 2017 drama films French drama films 2010s French-language films French feminist films Films directed by Tonie Marshall 2010s French films {{2010s-drama-film-stub