The dirty world of French politics was dragged up the Cannes red carpet on Wednesday with the premiere of The Conquest, the much-anticipated tale of Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise to power.

The media packed out the main theatre at Cannes to view the film, showing out of competition, after months of speculation about what would be revealed in “the story of a man who conquers power and loses his wife”, Cecilia.

Directed by Xavier Durringer, the film begins by saying it is “a work of fiction based on real people”, eliciting laughter from the audience in a country that has surprisingly never made a film about a serving head of state.

The Conquest goes one step further, using the protagonists’ real names and where possible the exact dialogue as it happened at the time.

Mr Durringer told journalists after the screening that he wanted to show “how politicians put themselves on the stage to touch the hearts of citizens... Politicians are like actors, they’re very close to theatre.”

The director revealed that much of the film was shot in secret without the right permits so as to avoid politicians seeing the script.

Mr Sarkozy’s office “never had the script or if they had it, well, you can pirate a computer”, he said.

The fairground music running through the film matches the hectic pace of the hyperactive Mr Sarkozy running around with his advisors, eliminating all who would stand in his path before the 2007 presidential vote he went on to win.

“I have to keep moving so I’m not a target,” says Mr Sarkozy, played nervous tics and all by Denis Podalydes as he engages in high-stakes political manoeuvring against the clan of his predecessor Jacques Chirac.

While revealing a human side to the right-wing leader as his marriage breaks down, there are few scoops: Cecilia has an affair, Mr Sarkozy’s fierce rival Dominique de Villepin calls him a dwarf, and French journalists are cowards.

Chirac, played by Bernard Le Coq as a cross between Steven Seagal and Marlon Brando in The Godfather, says the short-statured Mr Sarkozy will never be President as “he stopped growing too soon”.

Cecilia meanwhile complains that their life has become a reality show.

One possible revelation shows Mr Sarkozy constantly eating chocolates and sweets, and the aristocratic Mr de Villepin is shown swearing like a fishwife.

Scriptwriter Patrick Rotman said he wanted to show the cruelty of politics and that “viewers will be surprised to discover the violence of the vocabulary of big personalities in politics.”