France5tv recently screened the cult documentary "1974, une partie de campagne" (a nod to the story by Guy de Maupassant) by Raymond Depardon, about the presidential campaign of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who died on 2 December at the age of 94

France5tv recently screened the cult documentary "1974, une partie de campagne" (a nod to the story by Guy de Maupassant) by Raymond Depardon, about the presidential campaign of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who died on 2 December at the age of 94. The film is of interest as a benchmark of political documentary-making, as a portrait of the most respected former President of France, and as a record of a unique chapter in the history of the Louvre. Most of the action unfolds in the sumptuous rooms of a Louvre we have never seen, when it was at the disposal of the Ministry of Finance and Giscard d'Estaing occupied the Richelieu wing. So one can examine in detail the Louvre of the Pompidou era, verdant as the 9th arrondissement, with its halls and offices and their unusual furnishings. Alas, after several screenings and a warm reception, the film was put on the shelf: Giscard d'Estaing simply did not want it shown, although he had been pleased with the work. The documentary languished in disgrace for a quarter of a century, until the former president permitted its showing again in the 2000s.