Once upon a time, I was very impressed by the 1978 epic biopic written and directed by Ariane Mnouchkine about the end of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, called Molière (1622-1673, played by Philippe Caubère). It had some indelible images (a gilded sleigh, and especially the dying Molière to music written by René Clemencic that was clearly inspired by Jean-Baptiste Lully's "Shivering Chorus"; there is also real Lully (and Monteverdi) on a great soundtrack). Showing the splendors and miseries of 17th-century France (cinematography by Bernard Zitzermann), it is with "La reine Margot", Abel Gance's "Napoléon," and Rappaneau's "Le hussard sur la toit," one of the greatest of French historical movies. At either 244 minutes (the theatrical-release version I saw in 1980) or 300 minutes (the tv version), it is definitely great in length, too. It is, alas, scandalously, not available on DVD.

The greatness of the 1978 "Molière" deterred me from watching the 2007 "Molière" written and directed by Laurent Tirard, despite the praise heaped on it (including a 4.5 epinions rating). What finally got me to pop it into my DVD player was being impressed by Romain Duris, who plays the title role, in "De battre mon coeur s'est arręté" (The Beat That My Heart Skipped, 2005) and not recognizing him as the same actor who was terminally depressed in "Dans Paris." If I had not been screening "Molière" because of Duris (or if I had not watched the half-hour "making of" featurette, in which he is shown being made up and wigged, first) I would not have realized that I was seeing the same actor as in either of those two films either. He is definitely something of a chameleon, though he has great intensity in all three roles.

Herein he is playing a young Molière in a scenario imagining the missing half-to-two years in his biography, after the bankruptcy of the Illustre-Theatre and before the extended (thirteen-year) tour of the provinces perfecting his comic art, which added psychological depth to the Commedia dell'Arte farce tradition. He and his troupe returned to Paris and, on October 24, 1658, and became one of the artistic glories of the long reign of the "Sun King" (le roi de soleil) Louis XIV. As shown in the film, his initial patron was "Monsieur," the king's brother, Philip de France, the Duc d'Orléans, who arranged for the troupe to perform (in the Louvre, not Versailles as in the film) before the king. This led to the king giving Molière the use of the Salle du Petit-Bourbon at the Louvre, and, later, use of the Palais-Royal.

The frame of the movie is the return to Paris before the performance for the king. The actor/playwright receives an early morning summons that he obeys and which sets off the flashback 13+ years to when he was rescued from debtor's prison by the prototype of le bourgeois gentilhomme, the social-climbing rich merchant M. Jourdain. In this fictional incarnation, M. Jourdain does not discover he has been speaking prose all his life, but under the direction of Molière does come to see the fallacies of many of his pretensions and illusions -- rather too many, too fast to be entirely believable IMHO.

M. Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini, "Colonel Chabert") contracts the services of Molière to coach him in a playlet of Jourdain's authorship, one that Jourdain hopes will impress the fashionable widow Célimîne (Ludivine Sagnier, Paris je T'aime) and those assembled in her salon.

Mme. Jourdain, Elmire (Laura Morante, Private Fears in Public Places), is far more intelligent and better grounded than her husband and is immediately suspicious of the introduction into her household of Molière, who is masquerading as a moralistic priest named... Tartuffe. Like the character Tartuffe in Molière's greatest play, this priest is a fraud and a celibate with very strong sexual urges.

In movie logic, initial antagonism between a male and a female character is pretty much a guarantee that characters will fall in love. What is not guaranteed is that the actor and actress will have chemistry. Morante and Duris definitely do have it.

M. Jourdain seems at some level to have convinced himself that his acting coach is the stern moralist and does not suspect that his wife might have a lover, until the fact literally knocks him over. Luchini is really, really good as Jourdain, eliciting sympathy despite his multiple pretensions.

That is not easy. And generating any sympathy for Dorante, the aristocrat who used Jourdain's desire for greater status (and to seduce the acid-tongued Marquise Célimîne) is an even bigger challenge, one that Edouard Baer manages to meet successfully. He is quite pretentious himself and a rogue, but has scenes of candor first with Mme. Jourdain, then with her husband (after he learns Dorante has been playing him for a fool).

The production design and costuming are sumptuous, the music is jaunty, and the splendid cinematography of is well transferred to DVD.

In addition to director's commentary (which will enhance the recognition of how characters and situations in the movie relate to Molière plays beyond some of the ones that were obvious from the names of characters) there is a nearly half hour "Behind the Scenes of Molière" featurette which is mildly entertaining. There is a lot of clowning, but seeing the makeup and costuming and hearing from the actors and actresses interested me.

Much of the movie makes me smile and it has its LOL moments (including the acting exercises of playing horses and Molière's arrival at Célimîne's salon). Duris has great charm here, making both is wit and his frustrations palpable. Laura Morante is a credible muse (and mentor) and Fabrice Luchini is a splendid M. Jourdain, who is not as stupid as he sometimes appears to be. It is difficult for me to imagine anyone playing their parts better. (BTW, I've decided that Duris is the French Johnny Depp, now that I've seen him in a period picture.)

Tirard says he wanted to make a modern comedy set in the 17th century. The pacing is modern and the insight into the characters is more than a little Molierean. The movie is more plausible to me than "Shakespeare in Love" was (though there was wit and the panache of Joseph Fiennes in that). My main qualm about Tirard's Molière is the reductionist view of creativity that it shares with "Shakespeare in Love." Shakespeare and Molière were playwrights of great imagination and insight, not mere adaptors of what they saw and experienced themselves. I'd take away half a star if Epinions had half-stars. Being on a Duris binge and not wanting to lower the composite epinions rating, I'm rounding up.


© 2008, Stephen O. Murray

My Duris binge is under the auspicies of Barbara's revived French find writeoff, and she appreciated this "Molière " here before I did.




Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD