“The Richest Woman in the World” in the cinema: You don’t even want friends like that as a gift

She is not used to speaking back in her house, neither from her husband Guy (André Marcon), nor from her daughter Frédérique (Marina Foïs) or her Jewish son-in-law Jean-Marc (Mathieu Demy), who are treated every day by her with eloquent spite, always delivered with an air of innocence. After all, she can afford it. Marianne, who endures her life of excess with a display of ennui towards those around her, has so much money that she gives her grandson a billion euros for his 18th birthday. She hovers over everything with a malicious arrogance, removed from the problems of ordinary people with whom there is no overlap in their everyday lives. Welcome to the world of the super rich.

Isabelle Huppert shines in the role of the icy billionaire

Marianne Farrère is a character tailor-made for a well-rounded Isabelle Huppert, who doesn’t have to do much to shine. Sometimes she lets her character get away a little too easily with the alabaster tenderness behind which she hides her cold cruelty. Because suddenly Marianne blossoms again, giggling like a little girl when she flirts with her new acquaintance in front of everyone.

Pierre-Alain speaks her language, he is Marianne’s equal when it comes to outright insolence. His charm is engaging, his barbs are comical and outrageous. And he doesn’t mind the expensive gifts she showers him with. He drives a wedge between the family members and, not averse to exorbitant luxury, makes himself indispensable to Marianne as a frivolous pastime.

Husband Guy is forced to endure the intruder – as long as the billionaire’s wife is happy. He’s already having problems of his own: inflammatory writings from his early twenties have been discovered, and suddenly the politician’s – and the family business’s – Nazi past is being dragged into the public eye. Frédérique (Marina Foïs) actually wants to distance himself from his father, but needs him as an ally against the snake in the family womb. At some point there is even talk of adopting Pierre-Alain.

Thierry Klifa’s slightly anemic super-rich satire is inspired by the real-life case of L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, which captivated the whole of France in the 1990s. At that time, Bettencourt became friends with the photographer François-Marie Banier, who took advantage of the unequal friendship and enriched himself to the tune of 700 million euros in the form of works of art, real estate and financial transactions. The billionaire’s daughter accused Banier of inheritance fraud. In the course of this liaison, a party donations scandal also came to light. Politics and juicy intimacies from the world of the top one percent are of course a grateful topic for the media – and the cinema.

But “The Richest Woman in the World” enjoys the game of Huppert and Lafitte a little too much, as they outdo each other when it comes to divas. Klifa’s film is an apt portrayal of a class in which money has undermined all morals. But in its most revealing moments, the film also reveals the inner emptiness of this super class – and how easily they get drunk on their own power until they lose sight of reality. Huppert’s bravura, controlled performance, despite its lack of boundaries, only gives an idea of ​​this weakness, because Marianne, in her delusion, does not realize that this time it is she who is under the spell of something even more powerful. But she doesn’t have to worry. After all, she has enough money.