16 April,2011 08:08 AM IST | | Agencies
A biopic of Nicolas Sarkozy that charts his rise to power and the break-up of his marriage has been selected for the Cannes Film Festival, threatening to turn the unpopular French President into an international laughing stock.
La Conquete (The Conquest) will have its world premiere at the French festival on May 18 after months of fevered speculation about its content.
Nicolas Sarkozy is portrayed fretting about his height and comparing himself to a Ferrari in the biopic La Conquete.
The drama charts Sarkozy's 2007 election victory. It also shows him fretting about his height and using colourful language to describe his enemies.
Yet it also shows a more sympathetic side of the French leader as he struggles to cope with the break-up of his marriage to Cecilia, his second wife. She left him for another man shortly after the presidential race.
Sarkozy now faces a quandary over his attendance at the festival. He had been expected to walk his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, down the red carpet at the premiere of her film, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which opens the 10-day event.
Critics of Sarkozy await the biopic's unveiling with glee, after a teasing trailer showed him proclaiming, "I am a Ferrari. You open the hood with white gloves on."
Unamused
The film could dent Sarkozy's attempt for a second presidential term at a time when his disapproval rating among the French electorate stands at 74 per cent.
The film was made amid such secrecy that the cast members have not been able to view the finished product.
Nor have Sarkozy or his aides, but they are unamused by the trailer. Pierre Charon, Sarkozy's former press adviser, said, "What we have seen, we do not like at all."
The French leader is played by actor Denis Podalydes, who dons a luxuriant wig for the role.
His impersonation of Sarkozy's voice and mannerisms is uncanny. The actor studied substantial film footage of the President in order to perfect his performance.
The film was written by historian Patrick Rotman, who claims his sources are impeccable.
Thierry Fremaux, the director of the festival, said, "We have suffered no pressure to take or not take the film. It will be screened outside the main competition for the Palme d'Or."
Bruni, a movie star
Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which features a cameo appearance by Carla Bruni, is the opening movie of the Cannes Film Festival. Allen's romantic comedy stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife in a walk-on role.
