‘Simone, the Woman of the Century’: Portrait of a statesman

After successfully making ‘La vie en rosa’, in which she explored the life and work of the iconic singer Édith Piaf; Olivier Dahan continued to delve into the biography of great female historical figures with the failed “Grace of Monaco”, in which Nicole Kidman tried to get into the skin of that other great icon that was Grace Kelly. Many years later, with enough time for the project to take shape and strength, the director opted for a cinematic portrait of a stateswoman, who stood up for women’s rights, human dignity and who fought to guarantee European values. . We talk about Simone Veil, with ‘Simone, the woman of the century’.

‘Simone, the woman of the century’ follows a similar structure to that of ‘La vida en rosa’. Dahan chooses to use the more classic conventions of the biopic, which seeks to cover the life of a historical figure from his childhood to his death. She has already done it with Marion Cotillard’s Édith Piaf and repeats it with Elsa Zylberstein’s Simone Veil. Of course, Dahan, who also signs the screenplay, chooses to leave the film at the very moment in which the magistrate is writing his memoirs, which makes the moments linked to the present flow and dialogue with the memories of the past, also acting as a common thread of the different historical moments experienced by politics.

Veil is internationally known for having decriminalized abortion in 1975, during his time as Minister of Health in the government of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing; other than for having been the first woman to preside over the European Parliament in Strasbourg, from 1979 to 1982; as well as being a member of the French Academy since 2008, where he held position number 13. Not to mention that, due to his Jewish origin, he experienced Nazi persecution, being she and her family were taken to concentration camps after Germany’s invasion of France and becoming, along with her sisters, Holocaust survivors.

All these achievements, Dahan tries to show. He does it in a messy way, thanks to the fact that the film is a trunk of memories that are shown on the screen according to the convenience of the narrative thread, which are the writings of memories in the twilight of his life. This gives more freedom to the screenplay, which can bring out the achievements of a woman of character, who has never been intimidated. The director also doesn’t hesitate to portray the most rancid machismo, the one that allowed itself to insult and denigrate her in Parliament for the mere fact of being a woman; as well as the willpower she had to endure in the face of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s far-right National Front.

An attentive portrait of a woman who made history

Dahan transforms his proposal into a successful multifaceted portrait of Simone Veil. He manages to summarize the most important moments of his life, thanks to that freedom that gives him visiting every moment according to his pleasure. Sure, the film would not have been made without the performance of Elsa Zylberstein, who gives one of the best performances of her career, being the most solemn and the most complex that has ever been seen, at least as a protagonist. He can convey the soul of Veil. She is not alone, the film has leading figures of French cinema, such as the Belgian Olivier Gourmet, Élodie Bouchez, Judith Chemla or Sylvie Testud.

The film also knows how to count on a prestigious young cast, having Mathieu Spinosi; but above all with Rebecca Marder, of the Comédie Française, in the role of the young Simone Veil, the one who had to survive in the concentration campsthe one who had the courage to study at university, the one who had to face her male classmates for wanting to be a magistrate, the one who had to experience more misfortunes after the Holocaust, when she suffered the premature death of her sister at a car accident. Zylberstein is magnificent as Simone Veil, but I couldn’t have played her as well if Marder hadn’t captured her youth.

Along with a magnificent technical section, its scenography is magnificent (work by Daniel Erdei, Joëlle Aoun and Zoltán Gelsi), as is its cinematography (with Manuel Dacosse as director); ‘Simone, the woman of the century’ is Dahan’s comeback in style, which he manages to remedy with the portrait of a woman who made history and whose influence is still present both in French and European society and politics. A heartfelt tribute.

Note: 8

The best: Elsa Zylberstein’s interpretation.

Worse: The feeling that Dahan wants to cover a lot.