CLEMENCEAU, THE TIGER’S LAST LOVE
(Georges Clémenceau, la force d’aimer )
TELEVISION COMPETITION
MELVILLE THEATRE
Drama / War
- WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30
1:00 pm (Screening ends at 2:45 pm) - THURSDAY OCTOBER 31
11:00 am (Screening ends at 12:45 pm) - FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1
5:35 pm (Screening ends at 7:20 pm) - SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3
4:55 pm (Screening ends at 6:40 pm)
Presented in association with:
Film & Picture
Women In Film
TITRAFILM
North American Premiere | France | 2023 | Drama, Romance | 100 min | In French with English subtitles
Directed by: Lorraine Levy
Written by: Jacques Santamaria, Nathalie Saint-Cricq
Based on the Book by: Nathalie Saint-Cricq
Produced by: Simone Harari Baulieu (Effervescence Fiction), France Televisions
Cinematography: Dominique De Wever
Film Editing: Clémence Samson, Elisabeth Paquotte
Original Score: Cyrille Aufort
Cast: Pierre Arditi (Georges Clemenceau), Émilie Caen (Marguerite Baldensperger), Elizabeth Bourgine (Madeleine Clémenceau Jacquemaire), François Marthouret (Claude Monet), Chantal Neuwirth (Clotilde), Serge Riaboukine (Aristide Briand), François Levantal (Nicolas Pietri), Scali Delpeyrat (Fernand Baldensperger)
International Sales: Film & Picture
Original Broadcast: France 2 (November 3, 2023)
At the end of WWI, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau — affectionately known as “The Tiger” — was one of the Big Four, hosting the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and brokering the Treaty of Versailles, which finally put an end to that devastating war. However, Lorraine Levy‘s heartfelt TV movie focuses on another chapter in the illustrious elder statesman’s life. Four years later, on May 2, 1923, Clemenceau meets literary editor Marguerite Baldensperger and is immediately smitten. He is 82 years old, she’s 41. Yet the spark between them is reciprocal, and Clemenceau offers her a Faustian pact, “I’ll help you to live, you’ll help me to die.” The ever-seductive Pierre Arditi, at 77, agreed to “age” himself significantly, spending three hours in hair and make-up every day, to embody “Father Victory” in the twilight of his eventful life. At times almost unrecognizable, Arditi’s unrelenting charm (and boundless talent) nevertheless fills the screen in this delicate portrayal of the purest of loves.
The sister of celebrated author Marc Levy, Lorraine Levy began her career as a literary editor and playwright, before turning to screenwriting and film directing. Her play Zelda ou Le Masque (1991) was honored with the Prix Beaumarchais. She has written numerous television scripts, beginning with the ever-popular series, Josephine, ange gardien, which has been aired continually on TFI since 1997. In 2003, she directed Maquette, her first short film, and has continued to write and direct for both television and the big screen ever since. Her titles include the two-part TV movie Lagardère (2003), and feature films The First Time I Turned Twenty (COLCOA 2005) and Knock (2017), starring Omar Sy. Her feature The Other Son (2012), centering on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival, garnering both the Grand Prize and a Best Director award for Levy. Clemenceau, The Tiger’s Last Love first aired on France 2 in November 2023.
