La Chose publique is a French film directed by Mathieu Amalric. A work commissioned by the television channel Arte in the framework of its collection "Male/Female", the film is presented on 21 May 2003 at the Fifteen Film Directors at the Cannes Film Festival. It is broadcast on the French-German channel on 1 September 2003 before making a general release on a very small number of screens in France on 3 September 2003.A dramatic comedy of largely autobiographical inspiration with the backdrop of the French presidential election of 2002, this third feature film by Mathieu Amalric received overall good criticism in the specialized press. This one has noted, more or less positively, the technical aspect of the various textures of the images obtained by the use of different digital video cameras allowing the director to narrate the various mists in the script.