AllMovie

Two men ponder the nature of French politics, culture, and celebrity in this satiric mock-documentary. In Pater, director Alain Cavalier plays the president of France, and actor Vincent Lindon is the prime minister, as the two men improvise lengthy dialogues in which they discuss the issues of the day -- principally wage disparity and the electoral process -- as well as sharing opinions about the nature of the political game, the trials of winning and maintaining high office, and the differences between filmmaking and governance. With time, the conversation between Cavalier and Lindon becomes as much about the film they're making as they characters they've assumed, and politics becomes a stand in for money and the cult of personality. Pater was an official selection at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.