Simone: Woman of the Century (2023) | Dir. Olivier Dahan
© Samuel Goldwyn Films
Text: Belle McIntyre
This biopic of the towering figure Simone Veil makes me feel painfully uninformed for not having any knowledge of her accomplishments as a passionate human rights activist. She advocated for the rights of women, prisoners, victims of war crimes and HIV patients. Her single-minded crusade against injustice was surely influenced by her horrific survival of the holocaust and internment at Auschwitz. The story of Simone Veil is one that is extraordinarily inspiring and aspirational.
© Samuel Goldwyn Films
Born into a prosperous secular Jewish family in Nice, France, Simone Jacob (Rebecca Marder) had a seemingly idyllic childhood, with an adoring, independent-thinking, supportive mother. The young Simone, was the shy one among her close-knit family with her three siblings. When she met and fell in love with Antoine Veil, an up and coming civil servant, it seemed like an ideal marriage. She devoted herself to being a supportive wife and raising their children. At some point, her repressed rage against the atrocities which she had endured and which had caused the death of members of her family triggers an urgent need to become a proactive agent against injustice. To that end, she enrolls in law school in order to acquire the skills necessary to be an effective advocate. Against all of the odds and misogyny she gets her degree and becomes one of the rare female magistrates in France.
© Samuel Goldwyn Films
She distinguishes herself when she successfully protects the rights of women to abortion. This was a hard-fought battle with unimaginable hostility directed at her publicly and personally. Her distinguished activism leads to her being named France’s Minister of Health. In that role she improves the lives of prisoners, women, migrants, drug addicts, H.I.V. and war victims. None of these causes were particularly popular until she shined the light on them. Her outspoken championing of previously ignored issues brought a new liberalism to France.
© Samuel Goldwyn Films
One of her aspirations was to be an elected official, which finally happened in 1974 when she was elected President of the newly-formed European Union. This position gave her a huge platform and increased clout on the world stage. It also exposed her to the inhumanity of the breakup and ensuing bloodbath of Yugoslavia, which felt like a repeat of Nazism. Her standing in Europe led to her increased influence as an outspoken champion for democracy.
© Samuel Goldwyn Films
The second half of her life as performed by Elsa Zylberstein, portrays her as the steely crusader navigating that role with her obligations as a wife and mother. It is in the final section of the film when Paris Match approaches her for an article on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. She agrees to revisit the locations of her most terrible experiences with a crew of journalists. It is a brave and triumphant moment in the life of a woman filled with such moments. I was reminded of the life of Ruth Bader Ginzburg as a corollary. Well worth watching and enormously inspiring.
