cndiver Review of Beaumarchais the Scoundrel

Beaumarchais the Scoundrel (1996)

What wonderful charm! Voltaire and Jefferson are applauding.

[7 August 2008]

This is a film for those who love democracy -- the victory of what Jefferson called the "aristocracy of talent" over the dead weight of the past. You will be swept up in this marvelous adventure, this heroic tale that recounts the American and the French revolutions at their best. This film is the LIFE, not the letter -- as it is presented in text books. Hurray for the American revolution and the French revolution and remember that their goal was wit and delight and love -- not advancement as an end in itself. The French cinema has presented this film in such a lovely, believable, natural manner. Thank you to them. Wonderful, humane acting graces a noble subject.