''The French Minister'' (, or by metonymy the

Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France) The Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (, MEAE) is the ministry of the Government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters have been located at 37 Quai d'Orsay, close to the National Assembly. The ter ...

) is a 2013 French

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...

, his final narrative film. Based on '' Quai d'Orsay'', a comic strip by Christophe Blain and

Abel Lanzac Antonin Baudry (born 6 May 1975,) also known by the writing pseudonym Abel Lanzac, is a French diplomat specializing in cultural affairs, comic book author, screenwriter, and film director. Biography After finishing his studies at lycée Louis- ...

, the film takes an initially comedic look at the French Foreign Ministry under

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

but moves into more serious territory as France, in co-operation with Germany, opposes the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...

. In January 2014, the film received three nominations at the

39th César Awards The 39th Annual César Awards ceremony, presented by the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques (Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma), was held on 28 February 2014, at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. '' Me, Myself and Mum'' r ...

, with Niels Arestrup winning the award for Best Supporting Actor.

Plot

After graduating from the ''

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

'', which trains France's leaders in the public and private sectors, Arthur Vlaminck lands a job as speechwriter in the Foreign Ministry. Existing senior advisers do not welcome a talented newcomer who may become a competitor but his abilities are recognised by the Minister and, most important, by Maupas, the career official heading the department. That said, coming up with the right words for the constantly changing world situation and the constantly changing reactions of the Minister proves no easy task. He gets hastily written drafts past Maupas, and past other senior advisers who rubbish them, only to find that the Minister's needs have changed. The film ends in February 2003 with a re-enactment of the actual speech by Dominique de Villepin to the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

, at which he contradicted claims by

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

and

Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, businessman, and naval officer who served as United States Secretary of Defense, secretary of defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and again ...

and argued passionately for disarmament of Iraq but not invasion.

Cast

Thierry Lhermitte Thierry Lhermitte (; born 24 November 1952) is a French actor, director, writer and producer, best known for his comedic roles. He was a founder of the comedy troupe ''Le Splendid'' in the 1970s, along with, among others, Christian Clavier, Géra ...

as Alexandre Taillard de Worms (based on

), French Minister of Foreign Affairs * Raphaël Personnaz as Arthur Vlaminck, a young speechwriter * Niels Arestrup as Claude Maupas, the phlegmatic civil servant who actually runs the ministry *

Julie Gayet Julie Gayet (; born 3 June 1972) is a French actress and film producer.< ...

as Valérie Dumontheil, special adviser on Africa *

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

as Molly Hutchinson, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature *

Anaïs Demoustier Anaïs Aude Marie Michèle Demoustier (; born 29 September 1987) is a French actress. She was nominated for Most Promising Actress twice at the César Awards, in 2009 for '' Les Grandes Personnes'' and in 2011 for '' Living on Love Alone''. In 2 ...

as Marina, Arthur's fiancée * Alix Poisson as Odile, Maupas' secretary * Sonia Rolland as Nathalie, special adviser on relations with

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

* Marie Bunel as Martine, the minister's secretary * Thomas Chabrol as Sylvain Marquet, special adviser on Europe *

François Perrot François Perrot (26 February 1924 – 20 January 2019)Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

near the Reichstag,

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

as a fictional African country, and the United Nations Building in New York.

Quoted material

* The film sections are preceded by quotations from the Fragments of the Greek philosopher

Heraclitus Heraclitus (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire. He exerts a wide influence on Western philosophy, ...

. * The final speech at the UN is taken from de Villepin's address on Iraq at the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

on 14 February 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French Minister 2013 films 2013 comedy films 2010s French-language films Films à clef Films about diplomats Films about politicians Films based on French comics Films directed by Bertrand Tavernier Films scored by Philippe Sarde Films set in 2002 Films set in 2003 Films shot in Berlin Films shot in New York City Films shot in Senegal French comedy films Live-action films based on comics Pathé films 2010s French films Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor César Award–winning performance Dominique de Villepin French-language comedy films