Molière (2007)

Imprisoned for debt, playwright Molière is rescued by an aristocrat who needs his help in order to seduce a young marquise.

Director:

Laurent Tirard

Writers:

Laurent Tirard (scenario), Grégoire Vigneron (scenario)

Stars:

Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Laura Morante

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romain Duris	...	Jean-Baptiste Poquelin
Fabrice Luchini	...	M. Jourdain
Laura Morante	...	Elmire Jourdain
Edouard Baer	...	Dorante
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Célimène
Fanny Valette	...	Henriette Jourdain
Gonzague Montuel	...	Valère
Gilian Petrovski	...	Thomas
Sophie-Charlotte Husson	...	Madeleine Béjart
Anne Suarez	...	Catherine de Brie
Annelise Hesme	...	Marquise du Parc
Luc Tremblais	...	Gros-René
Nicolas Vaude	...	Monsieur
Philippe du Janerand	...	Bonnefoy
Isabelle Caubère	...	Toinette

Storyline

In 1657, playwright/actor Molière, having been given a theater in the capital by the King, is back in Paris after touring the kingdom of France with his company of players. One day, a young lady asks him to follow her to the deathbed of her mother... Thirteen years earlier, Molière already runs a troupe but goes broke and is thrown to prison. Fortunately (?) his debt is covered by Monsieur Jourdain, a rich man who wants him to help him rehearse a one-act play he has written with a view to seducing a beautiful bright young widow, Célimène. As Jourdain is married to Elmire, and is the "respectable" father of two daughters his design must remain secret so Molière is introduced into the house as Tartuffe, an austere priest...

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Plot Keywords:

1600s | character name as title | moliere character | historical event | deathbed | 

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening scene of this gorgeous movie was filmed in Marie Antoinette's tiny private opera house, known as The Queen's Theatre, located at The Petite Trianon at Versailles. However, The Queen's Theatre was not constructed until 1780 - so approximately 122 years later than this film's opening scene time period of 1658. The Queen's Theatre can also be seen prominently in Marie Antoinette (2006).

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Quotes

Célimène: What angel sent you to make us laugh like this? We're so dreadfully starved for entertainment.
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin: What, madame? I thought the greatest minds jostled their way in here.
Célimène: If you knew what we endured. It's often a draw between boredom and the grotesque. People jostle, yes, only to declare their unwanted passion. Like that poor Mr. Jourdain.
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin: Mr. Jourdain, you say?
Célimène: Imagine a farmyard rooster, disguised as a pheasant, sputtering rhymes in my face a child of eight would no longer dare read. You see my ...
[...]

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Connections

References Molière (1978)

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Soundtracks

Ah, Madame, Je vous aime!
Lyrics by Christian Daumas, music based on a 17th Century tune
Performed by Henriette Jourdain (Fanny Valette) and Valère (Gonzague Montuel)

User Reviews

A more fruitful experience for those intimate with his works

Laurent Tirard's costume comedy "Molière" finds comparison with "Shakespeare in Love" rather easily, and perhaps most dauntingly, to its legendary subject's own durable narratives. But while there's not as much details missing from the 17th-century French playwright Moliere's (Romain Duris) life as there was in Shakespeare's, there's still ample room for a fanciful imagination and conjecture.

The window is small, for Tirard and co-writer Grégoire Vigneron to present the missing weeks of Molière's life after his brief imprisonment for not paying his debts, just before he embarked with his troupe on a 13-year tour of the French provinces before his triumphant return to the theatre scene in Paris. The driving point in this film, as it was in "Shakespeare in Love", is how great art tends to imitate life and how muses tend to stem from elaborate romances, which in this case is Molière's torrid affair with the wealthy Monsieur Jourdain's (Fabrice Luchini) wife Elmire (an enthralling Laura Morante).

Tirard's first salvo and indeed the one that sustains its premise throughout the end, is his understanding that a film about Molière has to be a farce, an important element that shapes his later and most important works when romance, gender politics and the moral bankruptcy of the French aristocracy become his staples. As a staunch tragedian, he gets an early education in the deviancy of the social class from the misguidedly smitten Jourdain who picks him out from his cell to help him perfect his self-written play to impress the blueblood snob, Célimene (Ludivine Sagnier). But "Molière", for all its charm and spirited performances does play rather loose in its opening hour, setting up the strands to be tangled in its second half. The modern transposition of the ringing hypocrisy of the rapacious upper class and eager capitalists ingratiating themselves into a privileged circle offers up its most scintillating prospects.

Nonetheless, flawed in his initial insistence of tragedy as the spirit of true art, it would seem that while Molière's life is a stage, he's not yet in on the act. Duris plays his character with an insinuating intelligence, cynically wearing a scowl on his face but a twinkle of hope in his eyes, all with a precise intensity that threatens to spill over. A hard sell for a light comedy bordering on fluff, but Molière plays the crucial role of the straight man in his own farce. There's no sombre reverence to Molière and his work, though the film hints at the genesis of his later plays through overtly familiar circumstances, making it a more fruitful experience for those intimate with his works.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

31 January 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

As Aventuras de Molière

Filming Locations:

Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, Yvelines, France

Box Office

Budget:

EUR16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$32,601, 29 July 2007

Gross USA:

$635,733

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,878,867

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fidélité Productions, France 2 Cinéma, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1