Greed and a good woman - Film - Arts - Evening Standard
       

Greed and a good woman

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A female prosecutor, with a husband who thinks she lives too dangerously, investigates corporate corruption and is assailed by highly placed government officials who don't want her to dig too deep.

She is exhausted but obstinate, knowing all too well that she might be replaced at any moment. This is the plot of Claude Chabrol's new film and he has one of Europe's finest actresses in Isabelle Huppert to play his central character.

Without her, it would be watchable but not memorable. As it is, she is the best thing in a film constructed around an intelligent and eloquent screenplay but one relying on words rather than thrilling action.

It attempts to show that there is no way an honest player in the game of power can exist without compromise. Even this incorruptible woman can only win a limited success against those who feather their nests with shady deals.

Comedy of Power is as fluent as one would expect from this veteran of the French New Wave with more than 50 films to his credit.

What it lacks, compared with the very best of his work, is the element of surprise and emotional tension that Chabrol can sometimes generate.

A Comedy Of Power (L'Ivresse Du Pouvoir)
Cert: PG

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