1974, une partie de campagne

In 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing commissioned Raymond Depardon to make a film about the presidential race that year, with François Mitterrand as his chief opponent. Inspired by Richard Leacock’s (1960), which covered JFK’s run for the White House, Depardon follows the events in Direct Cinema style, sticking close to his subject during public private meetings. He is everywhere: aboard the helicopter, in the campaign office and with Giscard d'Estaing as he waits for the election results “all alone.” This offers a very special glimpse behind the scenes of French politics and some lovely observations of spontaneous behavior. Once elected president, Giscard d’Estaing was less then pleased when he saw this intimate approach and went to court to suppress the film. As a result, Depardon’s first feature-length documentary was shelved and didn’t get released in France until 2002. The original title was and referred to the narrow margin by which Giscard d’Estaing won. It was later changed to the much more neutral .