Who was Moliere? He is known everywhere as one of the world's greatest playwrights. But who was he? Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622, the son of a prosperous tapestry maker. His mother ...
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Title: Molière (1978)
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2 wins & 4 nominations.
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Who was Moliere? He is known everywhere as one of the world's greatest playwrights. But who was he? Born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in 1622, the son of a prosperous tapestry maker. His mother died when he was a boy. Growing up in the teeming streets of 17th century Paris, Jean Baptiste received a good Jesuit education and was fascinated by the street fairs and traveling carnivals that flourished in spite of the religious repression and hypocrisy of those cruel times. As a young man he joined the theatrical Bejart family to establish the Illustre-Theatre, which soon went bankrupt. The troupe reformed, found patronage, and went on the road for thirteen years, performing all over France. Poquelin developed his stagecraft adapting Commedia dell Arte plots to please brutalized peasants and cynical townspeople. He also married Madeline Bejart, the widowed daughter of the troupe's founder. Later he entered into a love affair with Mme Bejart's daughter, to the dismay of all. The troupe eventually... Written by John Christopher <johnpickman@excite.com> revised by John Chapot
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character name as title | moliere character | period drama | 17th century | carnival |Parents Guide:
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(air "Cold Song")
Music by Henry Purcell
Disque L'OISEAU-LYRE (SOL 60008 9)
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LE ROI ARTHUR (King Arthur, or the British Worthy)(air "Cold Song")
Music by Henry Purcell
Disque L'OISEAU-LYRE (SOL 60008 9)
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Language:
FrenchRelease Date:
January 1980 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Molière, ou la vie d'un honnête homme See more »Company Credits
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I have just seen the DVD of Moliere - this is my first time seeing this film. What a wonderful experience!
I would totally agree with all of the IMDb reviewers - this is an amazing production with some incredible images. Also a very painstaking reconstruction of 17th century France. The humanity of a full life, an engaging storyline, excellent sets and cinematography - its all there.
We recently had the pleasure of Ariane Mnouchkine's Theatre Du Soliel staging a production of "Le Dernier Caravanserail" here in Melbourne. (7 hours long). That was truly amazing as well. They were selling copies of the Moliere DVD at this show so I bought a copy there. It contains the 244 minute theatrical release of the film (not the 300 minute TV version) in French with English, Italian, German and Spanish subtitles. The digital transfer quality is very good, the soundtrack is Dolby Digital mono and wide screen 16 x 9 format. Region 2 only.
There is also a 46 min interview with Ariane (done very recently) in which she talks extensively about the struggle in making the film, the reaction at Cannes, how she structured the story and the ideas behind the death scene amongst others. Great stuff!
I would recommend that any fans of this film make every effort to get this DVD (probably French Amazon or Ebay). For others it is a shining light in French cinema history and well worth tracking down.