Film Review: La Syndicaliste investigates misogyny against professional French women

Isabelle Huppert in La Syndicaliste

• La Syndicaliste
• ★★★★☆

Based on true events, La Syndicaliste (15A) stars Isabelle Huppert as Irishwoman Maureen Kearney, a trade union leader working for the French nuclear company Areva. 

When she receives information from a whistle-blower that the state-owned electricity company is secretly negotiating with a Chinese nuclear power firm, Kearney fears that the deal will decimate French jobs and possibly transfer state secrets from France to China. 

But when Kearney goes public with her information, she finds herself the focus of a campaign of intimidation that results in a brutal attack on her person.

Adapted by Fadette Drouard and Jean-Paul Salomé from Caroline Michel-Aguirre’s book of the same name, and directed by Salomé, La Syndicaliste is a fascinating true crime drama that unfolds like a thriller.

Described by her boss as “a born bluffer” — as all good poker players must be — Kearney is a hard-boiled and unflinching negotiator for workers’ rights, even when her opponents are revealed to be some of the most powerful politicians in the country.

But the film also functions as an investigation into French misogyny as directed at successful professional women: when Kearney is savagely attacked in her own home, the investigation into her assault becomes something of a referendum on whether she is ‘a good victim’ or a woman tainted by her own actions. 

What makes the story particularly gripping is that Kearney refuses to play the role expected of her: in Isabelle Huppert’s portrayal, she comes across as manipulative, emotionally cold and — shock horror! — distinctly unfeminine in her refusal to toe the line and bow to male threats and violence, regardless of whether they’re made by her superiors, the police or masked assailants.

(cinema release)