The President's Wife Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The President's Wife Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 29, 2025

There's an old adage that states "children should be seen and not heard", but that same pronouncement might also be said about spouses of reigning political figures. There was a whole subcategory of American comedy that appeared during scandals featuring people like Duncan Hunter and/or Mark Sanford which snarkily skewered what were described as "Republican wives", beautifully coiffed and made up women who stood just slightly behind their office holding husbands with frozen smiles on their faces as those husbands confessed to things like marital infidelity (there are of course plenty of "Democratic wife" examples, including Hillary Clinton, who actually shows up in this film in a Forrest Gump-esque moment documented in screenshot 4, below). But feature films actually about political spouses (as opposed to focusing on the office holder which may admittedly have the spouse as a supporting character) are kind of rare. Showtime attempted The First Lady a few years ago which profiled several women holding that title, but the miniseries didn't seem to make much of an impact. One of the few feature films that springs instantly to mind is Jackie, and rather interestingly the focus of that film is of course her post-First Lady experience. This is all to say that one way or the other, and without immediately addressing the veracity of what's portrayed here, The President's Wife (originally released in France as Bernadette) is kind of unusual from the get go as it documents the "evolution" of Bernadette Chirac (Catherine Deneuve) after her husband Jacques is elected President of France.

The film deliberately toys with reality vs. fiction from its opening moments, with a kind of cheeky church choir singing about Bernadette and a series of subtitles announcing that everything in the film is based on fact, except the parts that aren't. What may chafe at certain sensibilities, even if I suspect many women watching the film will be nodding in tacit agreement, is how churlish those surrounding Bernadette are shown to be as she navigates her role as France's First Lady (after years of incredible political accomplishments herself). This pervades not just Bernadette's relationship with the imperious Jacques (Michel Vuillermoz), but perhaps surprisingly with the Chiracs' daughter Claude (Sara Giradeau), who is almost nastier to her mother than her father is at times.

That probably makes Bernadette's unlikely march toward popularity and becoming a beloved media figure more visceral, but it may undercut some of the whimsical tone the film seeks to establish. The general ambience here is playful, though, and it is elevated by the elegance and feistiness of a reliably energetic Deneuve.

The President's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The President's Wife is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Media Group's Contemporary Classics imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 (both real and manufactured "archival video" can be in Academy Ratio). The IMDb lists the Red Gemini but fails to specify the resolution of the DI as of the writing of this review. This is a nicely sharp and well detailed looking presentation (save for the intentionally shoddy looking "archival video" moments), with some commendable fine detail levels on everything from facial features to the rather luxe at times sets and costumes. The palette is basically a candy colored array a lot of the time and is consistently quite vivid. There are a few passing moments, as in a club scene, where shadow detail can be a bit lacking.

The President's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The President's Wife features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options. The surround track noticeably opens up both ambient environmental effects and the film's rather charming score by Anne-Sophie Versnaeyen, which includes those aforementioned church choir performances. Both outdoor scenes and crowd moments can offer good spill into the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional (yes, optional, thank you, Cohen) English subtitles are available.

The President's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (HD: 2:26) are actually more like alternate / extended scenes.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:33)

The President's Wife Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chances are many (most?) on this side of the pond are going to know nothing or next to nothing about Bernadette Chirac, and it might be jokingly offered that those people will still not know much after the film ends, aside from the fact that Bernadette charted her own course and came out of the crucible of public scrutiny stronger and more popular than ever. This may not be "the facts, and just the facts, ma'am", but it's rather winning on its own terms, and Deneuve is wonderfully engaging throughout. Technical merits are solid, and The President's Wife comes Recommended.