The Richest Woman in the World (La Femme la plus riche du monde)

Gentlemen, do you need any information?

Captain Marchand, financial brigade.

Go ahead.

What are you doing? What do you want?

You are both in custody.

This is a search.

You will follow us.

Good morning, sir. You can come.

I worked 12 years for Mr. And Mrs. Farrère.

I arrived through a specialized agency.

And there I was asked a question about cooking asparagus.

I knew how to answer.

20 minutes at a simmer.

Sir appreciated that I came from Provence, that I had done military service...

"You are a man of the land," he told me.

I had never known that.

As soon as a lamp was broken, it had to be repaired, but in England.

I thought I wouldn’t last three days in a place like that.

You say that and then you stay.

What are these flowers again?

Lilies.

Always gloomy, these bouquets.

This is the menu for tonight.

Mr. Chirac loves calf's head.

Good morning, Jérôme.

Good morning, madam, how are you this morning?

Like yesterday.

And like tomorrow, I fear.

Still your migraine?

Among other things. One pain drives out another.

Good morning, sir.

Good morning, Jérôme.

Jérôme, with this bouquet I can’t see Guy, if you could remove all that.

It feels like Honolulu airport.

- Did you sleep well? - Yes.

You’re not upset with me for organizing this ridiculous dinner?

Not at all, and besides it's not just a waste of time.

The minister was delighted to sit on your right.

We are obliged to invite them at least once,

if only out of courtesy.

Pierre had perfectly cooked the beef stew.

That’s true.

Everyone was delighted.

But can we rely on him?

Jérôme, is it the same tea as usual?

Yes, madam.

Are you sure? I don’t want to have heartburn.

It’s exactly the same.

Madam, the agenda.

At 10, your physiotherapist.

11, Mr. De Véret.

At noon, board meeting.

1:15 p.m., lunch in the company cafeteria with Mrs. Jean-Marc.

2:30 p.m., meeting with Doctors of the World.

3:30 p.m., return here for this interview with the magazine Selfish.

And 4 p.m., photo session.

What is this Selfish?

It’s a magazine. Didn’t you forget?

Frédérique cares about it. For your image.

I have no image.

She thinks it’s a good thing.

If I had to do good deeds, I would have become a nurse.

What is needed, I think,

is to release new product lines every year.

To constantly renew ourselves according to

the market studies we conduct on fashions and trends.

We do not follow trends, we set them.

We must ensure that, from the outside,

the brand does not give the impression of resting on its laurels,

without reinventing itself, without questioning itself.

Thank you, Jean-Marc.

But beyond these good intentions,

I am not in favor of some of these new products.

Our customers know what they buy from us.

And if we promote 100 new cosmetics per year,

what happens to our classics?

People will think we are moving forward without a compass.

At the mercy of the wind.

You cannot enter the 21st century with 20th-century recipes.

My father used to say he preferred to carry out 100 quality checks for one product,

rather than have 100 new ones checked only once.

Luxury and beauty are our criteria.

And it is a solid tradition.

But we must conquer new territories.

We must have a more aggressive development policy.

Yes, there is the Middle East.

All those emir’s wives made up

like Sicilian carts and hidden under a veil.

My father also said one should not constantly consult other shareholders.

It is a matter of trust, of course,

but it must be shared.

You remain the captain at the head of the fleet.

Absolutely. The investments I made this year

for the company will be your profits tomorrow.

You want to do business, we will do business.

Michelle, could you prepare a bag with the new products for me?

- Yes, madam, it’s already ready. - Thank you.

So tomorrow we spend the afternoon together?

But to do what?

A movie, an exhibition, shopping.

Whatever will please you.

Ah, I’d love to, my dear,

but we said we’d be together tomorrow?

Yes.

Well, I forgot.

Thank you, Michelle.

It’s a very snobbish magazine.

But I really don’t feel like doing that.

My back hurts.

But it's an opportunity to tell a bit about who you are.

Your tastes, your aspirations.

If people see that you are a human being,

they’ll have a different idea of the richest woman in the world.

I don’t have to justify who I am.

No, of course not.

But in France, people hate the rich.

And with the left in power...

We’re not doing so badly.

With Mitterrand as President, he was a dreadful economist,

but we didn’t end up before a firing squad.

Are you inviting me into your depression?

Who is this photographer?

Does he have a name, a first name?

Pierre-Ala in Fantin.

Ah, him!

He takes very beautiful photos.

He has a terrible reputation.

Who has a good one?

I find him charming.

Everyone knows he fleeced that poor Adelaide Brunière

and even pushed her down the stairs.

That old rumor.

Is that your big idea?

I think it’s a good idea.

Is he your lover?

I’m married.

I don’t have a lover.

Oh, if married women don’t have lovers, then who does?

You are the richest woman in the world.

What does that evoke for you?

Rich, the word isn’t very pretty.

Wealthy is better.

Fortune goes with luck.

Wealth is inherited, inevitably.

But being rich means no longer fully belonging to yourself.

Beyond a certain amount, people go off the rails.

It takes a lot of talent to be rich.

For those who don’t know me, I am not the Queen of England.

I work, I am a passionate businesswoman

and I hope somewhat competent.

Where does the power of money end?

Where the taste for life begins.

Thank you, madam.

And where will we take the photos?

It's Pierre-Ala in’s choice. He has an unfailing eye.

I’m very happy to meet you.

Ah!

You don’t remember me?

Have we met before?

Yes, a few years ago at the Lazareffs’.

Yes, but you only spoke to Malraux.

I didn’t dare approach you.

You seemed so inaccessible.

So beautiful, so mysterious.

You reminded me of certain movie stars.

Yes, I’ve been told that before.

Would you mind putting on another pair of trousers?

Do you want me to change?

This one is very elegant, but sorry, it's a bit plain.

A bit bourgeois.

I want this photograph to perfectly capture the woman you are.

Who has had a destiny,

but for whom it may not be over yet.

In the sense that she still has things to accomplish.

In short, what I want to see is a heroine.

So?

We’ll stick with trousers, it will allow more varied poses.

Too much of an action woman.

An action woman isn’t so bad.

Why are you shouting at her?

I don’t know, I was told you were deaf.

The things one has to hear.

No, it looks like a butler’s trousers.

This one?

There, that’s good.

Then put on a shirt,

something a bit masculine, without being lesbian.

- This one? - Wonderful.

There, you’ll be sublime, divine, exceptional.

I’m not very sensitive to flattery.

Yeah, that’s good there.

You look like you’re saying:

you won’t get me.

I put on a man's shirt because I don’t give a damn about you.

And I don’t wear jewelry.

Precisely because I’m rich.

May I mess up your hair?

Your hair, this won’t do.

What’s wrong with my hair?

It's dead, it's dead, it's limp, it doesn’t move, it doesn’t breathe.