Review La Syndicaliste – Review on FilmTotaal
Director: Jean-Paul Salome | Script: Fadette Drouard, Caroline Michel-Aguirre, Jean-Paul Salomé | Cast: Isabelle Huppert (Maureen), Grégory Gadebois (Gilles), Marina Foïs (Anne), Alexandra Maria Lara (Julie), Yvan Attal (Luc), others | Time to play: 121 minutes | Year: 2022
Staging a rape. That’s pretty dark. A jet-black fantasy best left behind closed bedroom doors. However, Maureen, who heads a nuclear power plant union movement, is accused of this. In the first scene of the syndicalist she is found by her housekeeper. Strapped to a chair, they carved a triangle into her stomach and brutally raped her. Due to the lack of evidence and witnesses, the police put a large question mark over the story.
That’s the essence of this fact-based thriller set in the world of nuclear power. On the one hand a woman who defends her rights, on the other hand the judicial system that refuses to accept the authenticity of the rape. She even goes so far that if anyone in the office has clues that might confirm Maureen’s story, she’s shaking her head under the rug.
The lowest point has to be the court scene. Maureen faces a judge who, like a strict schoolteacher, publicly dismisses the rape story as a fabrication. You can feel the humiliation grab Maureen by the neck of her. Piece by piece, the strong woman falls apart. Aside from a few tears, she keeps every emotion to herself.
At the same time, a poisonous political justice rages in the background. Box: construction of cheaper nuclear power plants. Price tag: laying off hundreds, if not thousands, of employees. It’s up to Maureen to save the jobs. But how trustworthy is someone who comes up with an alleged rape story…?
the syndicalist It’s a great and effective thriller about the abuse of power and a woman standing up for herself. Isabelle Huppert is perfect as Maureen. No matter how oppressive and oppressive the circumstances become, she never relinquishes control for even a moment. Explosive personalities and authoritarian types are part of it.
In itself, you may wonder if the political games really add much to the already dramatic rape story. It’s Maureen’s field of work and the two inevitably intertwine, but somewhere you wish that the syndicalist prioritized the traumatic event.
It doesn’t detract from the film as Jean-Paul Salomé manages to cross the lines into a tight and well rounded story. But when it comes to the battle of ego in the world of nuclear power or a woman having to move heaven and earth to prove rape, the second option is much more fascinating.