Both a political narrative and a psychological reflection, this documentary explores the personal journey of a quarry worker’s son from Calvados who rose to become the last great figure of the French Communist Party. It delves into the logic that shaped his path and his lasting impact on France’s history.

François Hollande, François Bayrou, Christiane Taubira, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Arlette Laguiller, Jean-Marie Le Pen... reveal the driving forces behind their strategies, recount their joys and doubts, and talk about the exhilaration of popular jubilation and the harshness of an exhausting marathon—the adrenaline, the staging, the blows that are dealt and received, the hopes of victory and, in the end, more often than not, defeat. Through the testimonies of eighteen former candidates, "big" and "small," who participated in the Elysée competition between 1969 and 2012, this documentary directed by Jean-Baptiste Péretié reveals the human and political comedy of the presidential elections, the great theater of the conquest of power.

A four-hour journey through the first ten years of Les Guignols. Cult sequences, historic sketches, reference expressions... offer sixty or so “Guignolized” personalities the opportunity to analyze the phenomenon or react to their puppets. Their impressions, shared with Gilles Verlant, punctuate the Night. All those who have made Les Guignols what they are today - Alain De Greef, the historical authors, puppet creator Alain Duverne, etc. - take the opportunity to reveal a few of their secrets.