The Newcomer (2011)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The climber |
| Original title | L'exercice de l'état |
| Country of production | France , Belgium |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 2011 |
| length | 112 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Pierre Schoeller |
| script | Pierre Schoeller |
| production |
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne , Denis Freyd |
| music | Philippe Schoeller |
| camera | Julien Hirsch |
| cut | Laurence Briaud |
| occupation | |
| |
The Newcomer is a French-Belgian political drama by Pierre Schoeller from 2011 .
action
Bertrand Saint-Jean has been French Minister of Transport for six months. He is a crisis manager and has already revived a number of stalled projects in the short time. At his side is his head of cabinet Gilles, his long-time confidante. Pauline is available to him as a communications consultant. She accompanies him when he has to drive to the Ardennes in the middle of the night, as a bus with numerous young people on board went off the road and there were several deaths among the occupants. He finds the right words, but vomits on the return trip. In the midst of the media processing of the accident, the question of a possible privatization of the train stations presses Bertrand during a live broadcast. Bertrand firmly rejects privatization, but shortly afterwards has to listen to another channel as the budget minister Peralta advocates privatization for financial reasons. At Bertrand's insistence, the prime minister denied any privatization plans a short time later.
Because Bertrand's chauffeur has just become a father and is therefore allowed to go on paternity leave for four weeks, Bertrand hires the long-term unemployed Martin Kuypers as the new driver. Martin was selected as part of a campaign aimed at reintegrating the unemployed into working life. He is silent, does his job reliably and with discretion. Although he overhears Bertrand's phone calls or the agreements between the minister and Pauline, he never expresses his own opinion. One evening when Bertrand has little to do, he lets Martin drive him to his apartment. It turns out that Martin lives in a trailer. Although he has started building a house, he cannot continue to do so for financial reasons. They both eat in the trailer with Martin's wife, who, unlike her husband, has firm political views. A dispute ensues that Bertrand falters with the question of whether she will vote. At the end of the evening he is drunk and Martin brings him home.
In the meantime, Gilles has received news at the Ministry. The head of cabinet of the budget ministry, Dominique Woessner, was removed from his post on the highest order and praised away in the private sector. Here he is to be active in the privatization of the train stations, which the Prime Minister decided long ago. Gilles succeeds in convincing Bertrand of the advantages of station privatization, as a “Saint-Jean reform” will set him a monument in French history. The privatization is decided in the narrowest possible framework, but should only be announced in three days. Until then, everyone involved is obliged to maintain absolute silence. Nevertheless, Health Minister Falconetti learns of the plans and is outraged. Bertrand begins to use tactics on the political stage, among other things he plans to ally himself with Peralta. Gilles, who sees no future in the ministry for himself through the reform, is still forcing him to stay.
Bertrand's car unexpectedly overturns on a trip that, because of the shortcut, leads over a section of the motorway that has not yet been released. Chauffeur Martin is killed in the accident, while Bertrand survives injured. The accident, with a publicly attended funeral attended by Bertrand and the Prime Minister, led to a rapid rise in Bertrand's popularity among the population. The privatization question is postponed, some politicians resign. When Bertrand has recovered, he wants to mark out a first visit route where he wants to go to the train stations to be privatized. He can't decide which one to start with in a tactically smart way. In the toilet he receives a call from the Secretary General of the Elysee. He is offered the post of Minister for Labor and Solidarity and Bertrand accepts the post over the phone. He plans the common political future with Gilles, who has already submitted his resignation because of the reform. From the president he learns the background to his rise: As a popular and credible minister, he is supposed to take back the five percent for the party that will be lost due to the station reform with a positive package of measures in the critical area of work. Its only job is to defuse the situation. Own initiatives are not in demand. He receives a list of employees who will be eligible for his ministry in the future. The president wants "fresh blood" - Gilles name is not on the list and the head of cabinet leaves without a word.
production
The climber was filmed in the Élysée Palace and other locations in Paris. The scenes around Martin's funeral were shot in Bagneux . The film premiered on May 19, 2011 as part of the Un certain regard series at the Cannes International Film Festival . It was released in French cinemas on October 26, 2011, in Swiss cinemas on August 16, 2012 and in German cinemas on November 22, 2012. In Germany it had previously been shown for the first time on September 30, 2011 at the Hamburg Film Festival . The film was released on DVD in March 2013.
criticism
For film-dienst , Der Aufsteiger was an “energetic, virtuoso staged and photographed film that avoids the ciphers of the genre and stays in touch with real political conditions.” Cinema called the film a “bitter study of the price of power and the Politicians' cynicism ”. Der Spiegel described the film as a "remarkably successful attempt to take a sober, but nevertheless entertaining look at politics." The numerous locations that the film opened up were criticized, so that over time it frayed and was also genre-related can not determine: The film is "sometimes serious drama and then again absurd farce, political thriller and tragic comedy."
Awards
The newcomer received the FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes in 2011 for the best film in the series Un certain regard .
The film won Césars in 2012 in the categories of Best Supporting Actor (Michel Blanc), Best Original Screenplay (Pierre Schoeller) and Best Sound ( Olivier Hespel , Julie Brenta and Jean-Pierre Laforce ). He was also awarded in the categories of Best Film , Best Director (Pierre Schoeller), Best Actor (Olivier Gourmet), Best Supporting Actress (Zabou Breitman), Best Cinematography (Julien Hirsch), Best Editing (Laurence Briaud), Best Film Music (Philippe Schoeller) and Best Production Design ( Jean-Marc Tran Tan Ba ) nominated for a César.
In 2012 Der Aufsteiger won the Prix du Syndicat Français de la Critique for Best French Film .
Web links
- The promoted in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- The climber in the German dubbing index
- The promoted atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The climber. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ See cinema.de
- ↑ Daniel Sander: Political film "Der Aufsteiger": Boss, you are not within reach! . spiegel.de, November 22, 2012.
- ↑ See “Le Havre” win top Fipresci crits' award on variety.com