The Tie

2017 French presidential election. Bastien rolls up his sleeves as he launches the YouTube campaign for the number two of the National Front. The amateurish feel of the whole thing goes viral, and Bastien rises through the ranks. He dreams of glory and slips into the costume of “de-demonization.” But alas, his past as a skinhead sticks to him like glue, and he starts tying himself in knots. No matter what he does, he doesn’t fit into that stiff-collared caste whose scheming for positions and a bit of money disgusts him—because he acts out of conviction. Even if it means banging his fist—not just on the table. The candidate’s visit to his native Picardy to flatter the striking worker gives him butterflies in his stomach, but doesn’t stop her from getting politically tailored for a downfall in the second round. Chaillou and Théry’s film opts for a past-tense, openly literary narration, like the moral tale of an uncertain odyssey in which the protagonist seems disturbed by his own story—neither repentant, nor a complete bastard. And the viewer leaves with a lump in their throat, faced with the current success of this seminal electoral failure.

Frédéric Blacher
Head of Business Development
Tënk France