La Syndicaliste
Isabelle Huppert stars as Maureen Kearney in this compelling real-life whistleblower drama set in the world of French nuclear power and politics
Jean-Paul Salomé’s La Syndicaliste charts the true story of Maureen Kearney’s pursuit of justice as she doggedly works to expose a corrupt alliance between the nuclear industry and the French and Chinese governments. As a union representative fighting to protect 50,000 jobs lost in the fallout of their new plans, she is branded a conspiracist and delusional liar.
The film certainly shares the critical aesthetic of recent whistleblower dramas (see Official Secrets and Dark Waters) and Isabelle Huppert’s tenacity as the central heroine is redolent of one Erin Brockovich, but the Hollywood commonalities stop there. La Syndicaliste doesn’t grip you by wrapping itself up in labyrinthine, Sorkin-esque monologues. Huppert’s sustained, quiet intensity is what delivers the film's profound impact. In lieu of one single, concentrated and predictably hammy stick-it-to-the-Man moment, the camera simply remains fixed on her face as we watch her stoically register devastating and humiliating setbacks for months on end.
Kearney’s draining journey of being undermined, dismissed and eventually attacked is powerfully rendered. Significantly, misogyny defines the narrative, from sexist sotto voce remarks made by male executives overtly disregarding the thousands of female engineers they’ve fired, to the police’s fierce commitment to destroying Kearney’s credibility as an assault victim. The film’s most engaging element is its clear deconstruction of the notion of a 'good victim' – we see how irrelevant personal histories are manipulated to fulfil agendas and reactions micro-analysed in bad faith. As a result, La Syndicaliste perceptively speaks to the legal precedent of female rape victims not being believed.
Released 30 Jun by Modern Films; certificate 15