Molière (2007) User Reviews (33)

Molière in Love

[Red-125 · 8/10 · 4 October 2007]

Molière (2007), co-written and directed by Laurent Tirard, creatively fills a historical gap that exists in the biography of the playwright/actor Molière. Apparently, Molière was released from debtors prison, and did not rejoin his acting company for several months. The movie provides us with a fictional reconstruction of what went on during that time span.

Like many period films, this movie has high production values. The sets and costumes are glorious, and we are spared the usual obligatory images of filth and squalor. Instead, most of the film takes place in the château of the very wealthy M. Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), and his dutiful--if somewhat bored--wife (Laura Morante). Ludivine Sagnier plays a wealthy young widow, the Marquise Célimène.

The plot revolves around M. Jourdain's worshipful love for the Marquise. The Marquise barely knows he exists and so M. Jourdain proposes to hire Molière to teach him how to make a good impression on the object of his desires. The Marquise is self-centered, vain, and proud, and M. Jourdain is a fool. However, he is a rich fool, and can afford to go where his whims take him. Molière accepts the job, and the film moves forward from there.

Romain Duris is very good as Molière. He reminds me of Johnny Depp, and, like Depp, he overplays his role in a humorous and enjoyable way . Fabrice Luchini is excellent as M. Jourdain--a man who has a wonderful wife but lusts after an unattainable and unlikeable woman. Laura Morante is outstanding as the wife, who lives with luxury but not with love. Ms. Morante is Italian, so it's not clear to me whether her voice was dubbed. In any case, she plays her role with skill and subtlety, and she has a presence that lights up the screen.

This film will remind you of "Shakespeare in Love" and "Becoming Jane." It tries to correlate the artist's experiences--about which we can only speculate--with his or her art, about which we know a great deal. It is obviously unlikely that we will ever learn what led Austen or Shakespeare or Molière to write their masterpieces. Because this vacuum exists, writers and directors are free to speculate about events, and present these speculations to us in the form of movies.

I enjoyed both "Shakespeare in Love" and "Becoming Jane," and I would put "Molière" into this same category--not a great film, but a very good film, and definitely worth seeing.

Molière in Love

[marissas75 · 8/10 · 2 February 2007]

A French-language review of "Molière" (accessible under IMDb's External Reviews) compares this movie to "Shakespeare in Love," and that's probably the easiest way to sum it up. Both films are comedies that make no claims to biographical accuracy. Instead, they fictionalize a period of a few months when the playwright in question was young, brooding, amorous, in need of money and constantly getting into scrapes.

When this movie begins, Molière (Romain Duris) is a young actor who wants to play great tragic roles but finds that his comic mugging gets more applause. Monsieur Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), a middle-aged merchant who has written a play that he hopes will impress the witty Célimène (Ludivine Sagnier), hires Molière to help him stage it. Jourdain doesn't want anyone to hear about this plan, so Molière goes to live in his house disguised as a priest named Tartuffe. There, he gets involved in a number of comic subplots. He participates in the Jourdain-Célimène intrigue, helps a pair of young lovers, falls in love with Jourdain's elegant wife Elmire (Laura Morante), and finds his voice as a writer.

If you're familiar with the plays of Molière, you probably recognize many of the character names in the preceding paragraph. Jourdain is "The Bourgeois Gentleman" himself, Célimène is the heroine of "The Misanthrope," and "Tartuffe" is a comedy about a man who pretends to be a priest while he's really trying to seduce his host's wife. In other words, the movie playfully suggests that Molière didn't invent his famous characters and plots out of thin air, but stole them from experiences he'd had as a young man.

This premise could leave "Molière" feeling like nothing but one big in-joke, enjoyable only if you already know a lot about the author. Fortunately, the reason Molière's works have endured is because they're universal and they're funny. You might get an extra kick out of some of the movie's dialogue if you realize it quotes a Molière play, but it's also funny dialogue in its own right. Characters such as Jourdain, the ridiculous fool who eventually gains a measure of pathos, are still familiar to us today. Luchini, Sagnier, Morante and others do a good job of incarnating their stock characters, and Duris makes a very charismatic, humorous, passionate Molière.

My one complaint about "Molière" is that the prologue and epilogue, which take place 13 years after the events of the main story, don't work. The tone switches from farcical comedy to heavy drama (centered on a deathbed scene, believe it or not), and the movie makes the reductive point that everything works out happily at the end of Molière's plays because his own life didn't work out quite so neatly.

In this movie, Molière finds his voice when he realizes that comedy can tell just as much about the human condition as tragedy can. And the main storyline, which is farcical but rarely too cartoonish, affirms this—until the downbeat ending, when the filmmakers lose their trust in comedy, and insist for the first time that Molière must be treated seriously. A shame that they betrayed the spirit of the movie like this, because otherwise it's an entertaining, affectionate but irreverent homage to a great playwright.

A more fruitful experience for those intimate with his works

[movedout · 7/10 · 4 November 2007]

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.

It definitely helps if you are familiar with the works of Molière

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 23 December 2013]

Molière 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme' and 'Tartuffe' and his own life M Jourdaine a complete fool

You do not have to be familiar with the works of Molière to enjoy this film, though it's much, much more likely you will if you have seen or read his plays. This is because the plot and style of this film is very strongly inspired by his plays--particularly "Le Bourgeoise Gentilhomme" and "Tartuffe". So, for the unfamiliar, I'd rate the film a 6 and for the lovers of Molière, I'd score this film an 8.

The film is a tad difficult to follow as it does not follow a liner timeline. In fact it bounces around a bit. This is hard to follow because Romain Duris (as Molière) looks pretty much the same through the 13 year course of the film. When the film begins, it is at the present time. Then, Molière has a flashback where he remembers what life was like BEFORE he became famous--13 years earlier. At that time, he was briefly in prison for bad debts (something the author actually did have happen to him) but was rescued by a rich member of the Bourgeoise, Mr. Jourdaine. However, Jourdaine did not do this for strictly noble reasons--he wanted Molière to help him in his efforts to win the heart of a young woman. However, Jourdaine is already married (to a lovely lady he sadly neglects) and there isn't a prayer the young woman will return his advances. What's to become of all this? See the film.

The story plays much like a production by Molière--combined with a few facts from the playwright's life. In the end, everything is wrapped up perfectly and the film is lovely--with great sets and a terrific script. But it's also the sort of costume drama that might bore many--as most folks (especially non-French viewers) today probably have little, if any, interest in this sort of thing. It's a shame, as it is quite lovely and engaging--particularly as the movie progresses.

Romantic and richly entertaining

[howard.schumann · 9/10 · 2 September 2007]

While New York Times film critic A.O. Scott may rail at the "fundamentally bogus and anti-literary idea that the great writers of the past wrote what they knew", there is still a pervasive longing out there to discover the connection between an author's life and his work. The audacious premise that great art reflects an author's life experience is promoted in films such as John Madden's Shakespeare in Love and now in Moliére, Laurent Tirard's speculative costume drama of the great French playwright. While the suggestion that the mystery of genius lies in a secret love affair borders on the banal, these films attempt to give us a sense of who these great artists were as people and what may have been at least one source of their inspiration.

Like Shakespeare in Love, Moliére uses guesswork, imagination, and creativity to fill in the blanks when the facts are not readily available. What we do know about the life of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin known to the world as Moliére is scanty. In 1644 he was a 22-year old actor who spent some time in debtor's prison after his touring company went bankrupt. After that the young actor and aspiring playwright disappeared for several months before he surfaced in the provinces. It was there that he toured with his Illustre Theatre for 13 years before arriving in Paris convinced that tragedy was the only true theater.

Of course, what is not known is what inspired him to take a comic turn, but Tirard allows us to imagine characters and situations that might have led to such great works as "Tartuffe" and "Le Bourgeois Gentlhomme" and 28 other plays which roast the upper classes as affected hypocrites and worse. Soulfully and convincingly performed by Romain Duris, who has been known for dramatic roles such as the pianist in The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Moliére is rescued from prison by a bumbling aristocrat named Monsieur Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini). Jourdain has written a one-act play that he wants to perform at the salon of the haughty widow, marquise Celimene (Ludivine Sagnier) with whom he is smitten.

Paying Moliére's debts, he hires him to teach him the skills of an actor while tricking his graceful wife Elmire (Laura Morante) into believing that he is a priest named Mr. Tartuffe who has come only to counsel his daughter in matters of religion. This ruse runs into problems when Tartuffe/Moliére's falls in love with Madame Jourdain; however their relationship becomes a transforming experience for the actor/playwright when she suggests that he concentrate on writing a different kind of comedy, one that probes the emotions of a drama.

Complications are plentiful as the story moves from comedy to farce, to tragedy and back again with the assistance of a scheming count named Dorante (Edouard Baer) whose goal is to marry his son Thomas (Gillian Petrovsky) to Jourdain's daughter Henriette (Fanny Valette) regardless of the fact that Henriette is in love with her music teacher Valere (Gonzague Requillart). Moliére may not fully capture the true essence of the French author but the fact that it does suggest a writer of depth, wit, and inspiration may entice the viewer to seek out the source material first hand. Granted that the film is speculation, not biography, but it is art and the payoff is a romantic and richly entertaining tribute to one of the greatest playwrights in history.

Nice, gentle, warm comedy

[seawalker · 7/10 · 17 July 2007]

Thirteen years before finding fame as a playwright, Molière (Romain Duris) is a debt ridden actor leading his own unsuccessful acting troupe. Thrown into gaol as a result of this debts, he is saved by a rich, middle aged benefactor Monsieur Romain (Fabrice Luchini) who, desperate to attract a young widow (Ludivine Sagnier), hires Molière to teach him how to act. While working with Monsieur Romain, Molière starts to develop feelings for Madame Romain (Laura Morante)...

I really liked "Molière", even if it did not turn out to be the full blown French farce that it could have been. It was a nice, gentle, warm comedy, with moments of great hilarity and great melancholy. Make sure you have a couple of handkerchief's ready before the end. You might need them.

Nicely written and nicely played. Good performances from everybody, especially Fabrice Luchini as Monsieur Romain who plays, frankly, a true horse's ass. Some very funny (and modern) observations on the art of being an actor, the pros and cons of the "method" and comedians who want to play it "straight" when really they should stick to making people laugh.

Yes, it does have subtitles. Sigh. Have a read.

Closing Night at the Seattle International Film Festival

[hitchcockhill · 10/10 · 18 June 2007]

The Seattle International Film festival has saved us from a droll and boring summer movie season. With sequels galore and some atrocious originals, it was nice to catch a screening of the closing night film at the festival last night: Molière. The film wins big, and hopefully will be nominated for best French film, director and actor (Romain Duris) when the Césars roll around next spring.

Molière is France's Shakespeare and his life and plays might not be familiar to most Americans. So French director Laurent Tirard decided three years ago to make a film that would bring the work and escapades of the famed writer more accessible to audiences. Tirard co-wrote the screenplay and assembled a top notch cast including Romain Duris (The Beat That My Heart Skipped), Fabrice Luchini (Intimate Strangers), Laura Morante (Avenue Montaigne) Edouard Baer (The Story of My Life), and the always wonderful Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool).

The story begins with Jean-Baptists Poquelin aka Molière (Duris) frantically trying to decide if he is to do a tragedy for his next play in front of the esteemed royal family despite the fact they desperately want a comedy. The film flashes back thirteen years earlier to when Poquelin has been thrown into jail because he could not pay a debt. While in jail, Monsieur Jourdain (Luchini) seeks out Molière's theatrical talents. Molière is whisked away to the Jourdain estate in disguise where he must help Jourdain win the esteem of a desired mistress (Sagnier) while keeping this all hidden from the eyes of Mme. Jourdain (Morante). In exchange for his services Molière's debt will be paid and forgiven. Bits and pieces of the rest of story seem familiar to anyone who's read Molière's plays, as this film sets the stage that these events inspire Molière to be the comedy writer that he became.

The film wins on many levels. The acting talent of Duris alone merits a viewing as well as the beautiful cinematography by Gilles Henry. The images were very colorful and beautifully framed. The magnificent locations that only France has to offer were wonderfully highlighted as well as extravagant costume design, hair and make up. The score written by Frédéric Talgorn was by far one of the best parts. His ability to weave fifteenth century musical themes into a robust, fun and energetic comedy score definitely is worth a second listening at home on a nice speaker system. Oh yeah, the film is also actually funny! There are some great scenes from the plays as well as some nice jokes toward a modern audience.

Molière has everything. It is a fantastically crafted and brilliant look at one of France's most famous artists. The film may run a bit long for some, but it's hardly noticeable when juxtaposed with the brilliants visuals, fantastic acting and wonderful music and sound design. The film also has heart and leaves us with a nice message to ponder when leaving the theater. When Molière releases in your area, don't miss it. The film is also appropriate for teenagers as the sexual content is rather minor. French teachers around America rejoice at a PG-13 French film they can show to their classes! Don't wait for DVD though; see this one on a big screen.

Molière's unknown months

[stensson · 6/10 · 24 March 2008]

He was away for half a year and no research knows there. This is a fantasy about that period. Molière is supposed to be hired by a businessman, who wants to have a love affair with a widow. It sounds a little like one of Molière's plays.

This is candy to the eye. It certainly helps if you're familiar with Molière's work, because sometimes the lines are directly taken from them. But the original is anyway much more funny. And looks deeper into the human soul.

But this surely passes as entertainment. Especially the scene there it's proved that an man surely can make a great theatric performance, imitating different kinds of horses.

Do not expect a romp film. 'Moliere' is a serious drama.

[max-vernon · 8/10 · 16 July 2007]

This film starts slowly but the two-hour experience is ultimately rewarding when one realises it is neither farce nor conventional comedy. It does not provoke belly laughs, there are no titillating sex scenes and action is kept to a minimum. It is an amusing drama in which the main protagonists pursue the serious business of living but with comedic results. 'Comedy is a serious business' is the underlying theme.

Moliere believes that tragedy is the only true theatre but his over-the-top declamations fail to impress and are in themselves comedic. That comedy can also illuminate the human condition is the lesson that the young Moliere learns in this fictional story.

The film has been called a French 'Shakespeare in Love'. There are parallels. The young writer is in search of a muse. He has money problems. Characters have to disguise their true identity. There is love - requited and unrequited. The unhappiness of an arranged marriage as new money wishes to acquire the social cache of a title. Art ultimately imitates life.

However, the two films are very different. 'Moliere' is a serious film which demands more of its audience. Probably most people will find it less entertaining. I found it more enlightening because it does explore the human condition through real characters whose life problems are portrayed as deadly serious. No cheap laughs here.

If I were to compare 'Moliere' with an English film it would be with 'The Clandestine Marriage'(1999). In plot, structure and tenor the two films bear a striking resemblance. Neither film is particularly funny. Each is a comedy of manners set in a country house. The amusement (a refined emotion, supposedly above the dull-witted hoi-polloi) lies in the fact that social convention has potentially trapped characters into a great unhappiness. Class and gender inequalities provide the social dynamic - Marx would approve! Both films have very few characters. Both rely on wit rather than clowning. Both present a past world which is utterly believable. Both have a slow and measured pace. Both end on a happy note after a good deal of individual sadness.

The film's historical authenticity underpins the social satire lying at the heart of Moliere plays. The bourgeois Jourdain seeks all the refinements of the noblesse - dancing, painting, swordsmanship, horsemanship, letters, manners etc., etc. (Echoed by the Timothy Spall character in 'The Clandestine Marriage').The Dorante character displays all the weaknesses of the noblesse - spendthrift idler with a distaste for any form of work - 'We acquire our fortunes from marriage, not from work.' He is a man who has the ear of the King but who is not above lowering himself in pursuit of fresh money to restore his depleted fortune. The fact that his son wants to go into business appalls him and he spends a few laboured minutes trying to deny that his own family were originally in trade. This is funny only if one understands the society in which it is set. Of course, the ancien regime expressly forbade certain elements of the noblesse from going into trade.

The theatre scenes and the internal decor of the Joudain country house are very authentic. It all feels very 17th Century. Even the sturdy unsprung coaches with their unglazed windows are spot on. Society has not yet reached the excessive refinements of the next century.

'Moliere' is sumptuously shot. The outdoor scenes are a feast for the eye. The music is very compelling, even if it is not of this period. The acting is superb and the dialogue convincing. One does not have to know about Moliere plays to realise that future characters and plots are being gestated within the fictitious story being told. Or, to put it the other way round, that the story-line is based on the later plays and characters of Moliere.

Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini and Laura Morante all give fine performances as the main protagonists. No character is allowed to descend into farce or parody. The integrity of the drama is maintained from first to last. I expect marketing this film has caused some problems and probably has led to a miss-selling of the content which will disappoint some viewers. This is not a romp film and anyone expecting one will be disappointed. It is an art-house film with a serious message. 'The Tears of Moliere' would be a more apt title.

Une farce extraordinaire

[monsieurheitz · 25 September 2021]

This is an extraordinary film. It takes one through an undocumented period in the actual life of Molière. And it actually reflects the irony and absurdity as well as the romance that Molière depicted in his work. This film shows that the writing of Molière from some 350 years ago still applies to our lives today. Human nature doesn't change. Social conventions change. But what it is to be human does not. Molière showed that in his work. This film reflects that through the lens of modern society.

And I must comment on the cinematography and the lighting. I haven't researched, but visually, it seems that this film was actually recorded digitally. It has a much more video quality than a film quality. The lighting is brighter and focus is pulled more quickly. I'm not sure I prefer it to film, but it works for this production.

Overall, a great way to spend 121 minutes.

Here Comes Mr Jourdain

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 13 July 2007]

Every so often the inevitable happens and I'm faced with a film that I want to see with a leading actor I can't stand. So it is here; I accept that Romain Duris has his admirers and good luck to him but to me he's just another ugly, smirking, journeyman actor like Gaspard Ulliel and Benoit Magimal. To make matters worse - from my point of view - they even added Ludvine Sagnier to the mix; I've always contended that Ludo can't act with her clothes on and Boy, does she prove me right here though on the plus side she only has about fifteen minutes of screen time in two hours. That leaves Fabrice Luchini and Laura Morante to carve up the acting honours equally with Edward Baer finishing a notable third. If you know and admire Moliere - and if you know him it's hard NOT to admire him - then you can wallow in the references plus lines from his works that punctuate the plot, such as it is - M. Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini), for example, was the bourgeois gentilhomme who was delighted to discover that he'd been speaking prose all his life whilst Moliere becomes a member of Jordain's household under the pseudonym Tartuffe and so on. There's a nod to Preston Sturges and Sullivan's Travels inasmuch as Moliere begins by stating to his troupe that he has had it up to here with comedy and wants to write a tragedy and coming to realize at the end of the film that laughter is, after all, the best medicine. The photography is excellent and if the direction is slow at times and always unimaginative anyone who has ever laughed at a Moliere comedy will almost certainly enjoy it despite Duris' non-performance.

A fine movie, not to be missed

[rosian · 9/10 · 8 August 2007]

This is a movie not to miss. I give it only 9 stars out of 10 because I'm not keen on such a long flashback as is used here. I would have preferred a straight chronological order - mostly I find flashbacks tedious unless they are very short. However, I expect the French, knowing Moliere's plays well, may be happy with this flashback approach as they could do what I mostly couldn't, pick out all the allusions to specific Moliere plays.

In France the word comedy is used as it used to be used in England in Shakespeare's time - it didn't mean a knockabout farce or a barrel of laughs, but a story which follows certain guidelines for entertainment and likely to include some comic sequences. This is an excellent comedy with both laughs and sharper moments.

Particular accolades to Fabrice Lucchini for another fine performance because he is a favourite of mine, but also accolades to all the actors, the director, the camera people, everyone.

I shall certainly be looking up Moliere's plays to discover some of the sources for myself. I've only ever seen two of them and one was an amateur performance but without subtitles and I at 15 didn't have good enough French to follow it much! Time Moliere was better known in England, clearly, just as Feydeau's real farces were introduced to us years ago.

A farce that never quite clicks--or finds a style.

[Chris Knipp · 7/10 · 5 August 2007]

There's a period of a few months in 1644 when the French playwright Molière, then only 22, fell through the cracks of history, and Laurant Tirard's film 'Moliere' (co-written with Grégoire Vigneron) makes up a story to fill the gap. Young Moliere's little company is crippled by debts and he is trying insistently to put on tragedies with no success. One day when he's in debtor's prison, he disappears. According to the film, he has an adventure that leads him wisely to reorient his work in the direction of comedy after being urged to do so by a lovely woman with whom he has a brief affair after being hired as a sort of ghost writer for her husband. This patron has paid off Moliere's debts and brings him to his estate disguised as a tutor for a daughter. He is a pretentious and very wealthy businessman who wants the young writer to pen clever material for him to pass off as his own and thereby impress a witty young woman who's the star of a salon.

The wealthy businessman is the supple Fabrice Lucchini , his lovely wife is the beautiful Laura Morante, Moliere is a be-wigged Romain Duris, and the witty salon chick is Ludivine Sagnier. The patron's name is none other than Monsieur Jourdan--the same as Moliere's most famous creation, "The Bourgeois Gentleman." Jourdan also contains elements of Orgon and Arnolphe, two of Moliere's other memorable creations. Lucchini is at the center of the film and his character is more complex than Duris' playwright, who's more buffoonish most of the time than the bourgeois fool. Anyway, though there are suitors for Jourdan's daughter and Moliere is having an affair with Mme Jourdain, as an illustration of the author's famous characters and themes this is superficial--at best, "Moliere for Dummies" (a phrase used in one of the French reviews). The underlying assumption--though I'm not sure how seriously one should take it--is that Moliere based his characters on actual people, and had to be told by a lover what genre to work in--comedy. At the end we see Moliere and his company, thirteen years later, performing a bit of 'Tartuffe,' and the lines are directly copied from the playwright's earlier adventure chez Jourdan. If this is meant to be moving, it only seems literal and obvious.

Duris' character is occasionally witty, but too much of the movie is physical slapstick that, however well executed--Duris is adept and game--thinks it's funnier than it is. An extended scene where Moliere and M. Jourdan set to imitating horses is arresting, but more peculiar than droll. Edouard Baer, as an impoverished nobleman who exploits Jourdan, seems a bit wasted here considering that he was so amusing along with the brilliant Clovis Cornillac (and others) in Tirard's funny if ridiculous 2004 comedy ''Mensonges et trahisons. . . This is farce that stumbles too often. It knocks the dust off some pages of (nonexistent) history, but somehow it never quite clicks--or finds a style. Tirard penned the conventional sitcom-ish comedy last year with Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'Prete-moi ta main' ('How to Get Married and Stay Single''). It's been a long time since Moliere. Romain Duris continues to show versatility, but this performance steals none of the luster of his much more memorable one in Audiard's 2005 'The Beat My Heart Skipped.'

Julian Jarrold's 'Becoming Jane,' playing simultaneously in this country, treats Jane Austen with the same fundamentally naïve assumption that authors invent nothing and simply copy out people they've encountered in life. But 'Jane' differs significantly. Though Miss Austen may never have gotten into the sort of amorous mess that's central to the film, such things did happen very definitely to some of her characters, and there are some genuine emotions in 'Jane.' 'Moliere' is being overrated in this country, while 'Becoming Jane,' which has been generally dismissed, is not getting a fair shake.

Molière's life told as a Molière's play : enjoyable but a little shallow

[moimoichan6 · 5/10 · 7 February 2007]

The original idea of the movie is quite seducing : it tells us a fragment of Molière's life as if he were in a Molière's play. This fictional and fantasist biography is a sort of "what if" Molière had meet in his youth all the characters he'll use as figures to his future plays : Jourdain, Elmire, Doriante, and had also experience the comical situations he'll re-transcript later on stage : Molière pretends to be Tartufe in order to learn to act to M. Jourdain. But no mistakes here, "Molière", if you put aside the painful introduction and the final scene of the movie, isn't a reflection on art and life and their interconnection, in an "Amadeus"'s style : if it tells us Molière's life as a Molière'play, it's merely to give us a simple and shallow, but quite enjoyable comedy, far from the abyssal questions such a supposition could have arise.

There's plenty of good ideas in the movie, which underline the comical side of the original idea, but never reach its full potential. The good points are a completely fun and fantasist vision of the History, for such a concept allows a non conventional and funny vision of Molière's life. It also deals with a lot of situations and citations of Molière's plays, which are always a pleasure to hear. But the movie, even more than his lack of deep, suffers from several major defaults, that spoil a little the pleasure that the concept of the film could have offer.

The direction, for instance, is far more unoriginal and academic than the the pitch of the movie : it even sometimes looks like a movie made for TV : it's clean, but there is is no emphasis in it. The same thing goes with the script : if the idea is funny, the dialogs are sometimes a little easy and the all thing is almost always predictable : more madness could have arise from the movie. And if the actors are independently all very good, they don't really match with one another : it's like if they all were in different movies.

Romain Duris is excellent in a intense (anyway, he's always too intense) and tortured Molière, but he is hardly in a comedy : his character seems too deep in comparison to the others, for they're merely comical stereotypes from Molière's plays. Fabrice Luchini is a perfect theatrical character, taking pleasure to quote Molière's dialogs every two sentences. Laura Morante is in a quite serious marivaudage and Ludivine Sagnier and Edouard Baer are very funny, but they're in their own movie : a comical show about the XVII century. And this heterogeneity of the protagonists is really annoying in a long feature movie : you really have the impression that everyone plays his own little act, without really interfering in other's.

The movie is also a little long for what's it's worth : some scenes unnecessary last forever and some unfunny situations are longly detailed (I'm thinking about the love story of the daughter of the family : it's predictable and boring). So, at the end, all you have is a funny little french comedy, whereas it could have had the intensity and the deep of "Amadeus".

And by the way, if you like fictions based on famous writer's life, I advise you to watch "Les larmes blanches" by Grégory Rateau if you have a chance to see it. It deals with Rimbaud's youth and, in only eleven minutes, it manages to be deeper than this "Molière", and to present a much more appropriate and interesting use of famous quotations.

Seductive game

[Vincentiu · 24 December 2010]

Charming story of a time. Another Moliere, in a beautiful game of desires, ambition, errors and sentimental confusion. A play by Moliere with the author as character. Comedy and description of society, drama and piece of biographic way, mirror and childish trip,it is a "cake" with many spices. Romain Duris is seductive and brilliant, part of french science to make national history pages in small and delicate jewels. The love is cover of a nice exercise to define a culture. A bait in different nuances.A travel in the spirit of transformation age. A mask of a great play writer. Picture of a metamorphosis. A slice of cake with pieces of forest fruits.

Hilarious but too focused on romance.

[thenextgreatbaker · 6/10 · 24 January 2019]

The entirety of this movie is focused on the relationship between Molière and Madame Jourdain, while it should have accurately portrayed the content of his plays. I feel as though it really misinterpreted the main ideas of Molière's work. There were moments in the movie where I was dying of laughter, but other than that the film was too focused on sexual interest.

Excellent Historical Fiction

[J_Trex · 8/10 · 28 March 2009]

This was an excellent film. It would seem to be inspired by the success of "Shakespeare In Love" in terms of plot and structure, namely the trials and tribulations of the French literary icon during his struggling early years.

Moliere narrates the tale, recalling his financial difficulties as the head of a bankrupt troupe of actors. To avoid debtors prison, he takes a job as a tutor to a wealthy merchant, training him in the fine arts in order to help him woo the object of his affections. The wealthy merchant is a buffoon and the training sessions comical, but his wife is a woman of substance, whom Moliere falls in love with.

There are other backstories, namely the merchant's daughter and her suitors, a conniving and lecherous friend of the merchant, and Moliere's present day plans for a play to be acted before the Royal Family.

The acting, screenplay, and cinematography were outstanding. I truly enjoyed this film and recommend it highly.

Surprisingly good historic comedy

[Enchorde · 7/10 · 21 February 2010]

Recap: Molière has returned to Paris after touring the country for 13 years, furthering his fame and reputation. Now the King himself has given him a theatre in Paris, and is expecting a grand performance. Especially, he is expecting a farce, a comedy, the genre that has made Moliere famous. Problem is, Moliere himself is thinking that to examine the human soul , he must write a tragedy, which he is really bad at. But an old acquaintance gives him the inspiration to write a comedy that both entertain and touch, inspired by what he himself experienced just before he went on tour.

Comments: The movie is supposedly a modern adaption and combination of Molière's own plays Tartuffe and The Bourgeois Gentleman. I haven't seen any of the plays (only other by Molière) but it does show that the humor in Molière's comedies still work. Because Moliére (the movie) is both intelligent, witty and funny. But also Tirard and Vigneron, who has written the adaption does deserve credit.

The movie uses a witty dialog, but also deception and duplicity to create peculiar and fun situations. It is very true to the farce, and very good at it. There is also something happening, often something new as the movie scarcely repeats itself. It was a real treat to watch.

To skip this because of the language, or because of it plays out in the 17th century, is a mistake. This comedy is at least as good as any of the more modern comedies made in Hollywood (which I also like by the way).

7/10

A Dazzling Period Piece: Filling in the Missing Pieces of Moliere's Career

[gradyharp · 8/10 · 28 January 2008]

'Molière' is a treat for the eyes as well as a tickler for historical manipulation and in the hands of writers Laurent Tirard and Grégoire Vigneron the cinematic version of the 'lost years' of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin AKA Molière's life abounds in superb entertainment. If the story becomes a bit too convoluted at times, trying to paste together a story that parallels the French playwright's most famous plays, 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme' and 'Tartuffe' as the basis for the missing portion of Molière's life, and drags on a bit too long at two hours, it is never less that gorgeous to look at and witty to hear.

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin or Molière (Romain Duris) is an actor and playwright for a comedy troupe that tours the provinces of France, spending himself into debtor's prison. His mysterious disappearance from prison is the time this film uses to explain how Molière was enticed by the wealthy M. Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini) to travel to his estate for the purpose of teaching the dilettante how to write plays and to act in order to win the affection of a wealthy young Célimène (Ludivine Sagnier) while keeping his daughter and his wife Elmire (Laura Morante) at bay. There are many subplots that tend to distract but in the end the 'play' created by Molière's presence and interaction with all of the other characters provides the life lessons and food for material that leads Molière to be the greatest of French playwrights.

The cast is superb, the visual effects are opulent, the musical score is period correct, and the cinematography finds a fine balance between the lush vistas of the countryside and estates and the grimy realism of the prison and small theaters. Perhaps the story is not historically correct, but no one really knows the true events in the missing portion pf Molière's life, and this version is at least plausible and thought provoking. In French with English subtitles. Grady Harp

Characters in search of an author.

[dbdumonteil · 8/10 · 9 September 2010]

This movie is a true delight for Moliere's fans.A good knowledge of his plays is useful but the screenplay is strong enough to grab someone who is not particularly interested in them.The story is essentially based on "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme" (aka "the middle class gentleman" ) and "Tartuffe" with elements borrowed from "Le Misanthrope" ,"Les Femmes Savantes" ,"L'Avare " and "Les Fourberies De Scapin" .Now the lines are directly taken from the writer ,now they are written in his style .Each character represents two or three other characters:the wonderful Fabrice Lucchini is Monsieur Jourdain and Orgon,Romain Duris is Molière and Tartuffe ,Laura Morante is Elmire and Madame Jourdain and the excellent Edouard Baer ,Dorante ,Alceste and some kind of "Grand Turc" .

Agatha Christie disappeared when her husband left her and as nobody knew what she did in those days they made a movie about it in the late seventies ("Agatha" ,Michael Apted).So why not Molière?In France ,some critics such as the reliable Claude Bouliq Mercier slagged off Tirard's movie ,proving that they can be prodigious snobs themselves sometimes;of course they spoke in the name of culture,of art ,of Molière -who -was one-more-time-betrayed ,they do not have any sense of humor.

Molière meeting his famous characters before writing his plays (after all they were inspired by the society he lived in) is pure fiction,and should not be taken too seriously:hence the failure with the French intellectual audience who praises to the skies any sequence of Woody Allen's films .I remember a teacher who could captivate his class with "Le Misanthrope" .He often made us laugh .I remembered him when I was watching"Molière" ,particularly the so-called "scene des Petits Marquis " updated by Celimène/Dorimène .Thank you,Mr Tirard.

NB :should not be mistaken for Ariane Mnouchkine's eponymous work (1978)

Sometime greatest inspiration comes from what you sacrifice.

[Reno-Rangan · 9/10 · 12 November 2013]

If you have already seen this movie you may come to know that it was the similar story theme to 'Shakespeare in Love'. That is not what I was going to say, this movie really did some magic spell on me because absolutely loved the movie all the way from top to bottom. The settings and the costumes, wow, very impressive, looked so natural. You know, most of the commercial flick that sets in the period like this, the filmmakers use nice and clean costumes. Cinematographically that looks awesome but won't feel like that is true.

The movie filled with plenty of humorous scenes. The story sets in the mid 17th century France, where a popular countryside writer and actor, Molière, goes to Paris to conduct one of his play. There he comes across with some person he knew before, which takes us to the 13 years earlier flashback story. Then he was a young talented comedian who was looking for a first breakthrough in his career. Due to interference in royal affair he was jailed but a wealthy man named Jourdain saves him. Now he owes him so he helps untalented Jourdain to seduce a widow woman. Initially he tries to escape from there but something changes in him and give reason to stay. While seducing another woman, Jourdain brings a great mess into the family without his knowledge. As the adults how they gonna solve the problem is the movie's twist and turn.

I can say the flawless, perfect performance by Fabrice Luchini was the movie's highlight. I have seen some movies of Romain Duris, it was his one of the best performances in those I have seen. Both Fabrice Luchini and Romain Duris from the driver's seat drove the movie to the success. You will enjoy it as a fine period comedy. The first three quarters were decent fun and the last quarter of the movie is what turns into a serious and emotional side of the tale. And that is where most of the audience will fall for it.

9/10

Yet another comment about Shakespeare in love...

[digbywardealdam · 5/10 · 19 January 2009]

I approached this 'essential piece of cinema for romantics everywhere' (according to the DVD blurb) with a degree of scepticism, and did not, alas, have my expectations challenged while watching it. The comparisons with Shakespeare in Love have, judging by other user comments, been stretched to death, yet it is almost impossible to avoid them. In both films, the strapping literary titan is used as a device to elevate the film to a higher status than the standard bodice ripping period drama. While the romantic rollocking continues, the occasional allusions to our heroes' respective oeuvres allows us to give ourselves a pat on the back for being ''clever'' enough to pick up on the reference (having said this, I knew very few of Moliere's plays and had to look up the connections after the film finished). The characterisation is simplistic, the script generic and Romain Duris' resemblance to Russell Brand quite alarming. Despite all this, I must confess I found myself rather enjoying it. 'Sumptuous' seems to be the most widely applied adjective, and, being a lazy commentator, that is what I see the film's appeal boiling down to. The extravagant sets and rapid cutting ensure that however prosaic the scene might be, the eyes are consistently ravished by the period details and frequently entertaining sight gags. Duris' Moliere is a far more sympathetic character than Fiennes' smug Shakespeare, and I was seduced by the amount of times our romantic interests are seen stumbling and tripping each other up. If nothing else, this means there is at least one aspect of the film I can relate to.

C'est Parfait!

[beacitizen · 10/10 · 23 January 2008]

I began watching this film with no expectations whatsoever - i had never heard of Moliere or his works before. The only reason i decided to watch this film is because my girlfriend is French, and i thought it would be helpful to take in some 'histoire Francaise'. Thank god i did.

The scenery and costumes, as one would expect from a period piece, are magnificent. But the true value of this film is in the emotional current running through it, and in the authenticity which the characters exude so effortlessly. The dialogue is razor sharp and incredibly insightful, tearing down so many expected clichés you almost forget you are watching a period piece (i am not typically a fan of the genre due to my mother who watched Sense & Sensibility endlessly when i was growing up.) There are moments where you expect the actors to do or say particular things in keeping with what a film *should* be - yet their reactions are so true to life it's easy to forget you're watching an invented story. The writers also manage to express, with ease, tales which have no time period, and deal with issues which can be translated through the ages. I disagree with some who suggest the ending deserts the spirit of the film by not being comedic in nature - personally i thought it was rather beautiful, and rounding everything off nicely. I only wish it were longer! At two hours i felt cheated when i could easily have watched four.

This film is not for everyone (as no film is,) but if you like smart humour and a little romance you really can't go wrong with Moliere. Authentic acting, insightful words, beautiful imagery, witty jokes and even a tear or two. I rarely give a film 10/10 but i really can't find any faults in this film. C'est Parfait!

From a trifle to a truffle

[masterjk2 · 8/10 · 31 July 2008]

When this exploration of Moliere started, I thought, "hmmm, I may not make it through this." With a little patience, I was rewarded. I usually don't like fantasies about real people. But this French movie works. It works because there is a pause in Moliere's life about which no one knows what actually happened. So this premise is possible and if, from such an experience he did gain great insight into human nature, then we can all be glad he was rescued from debtor's prison by a buffoon. What is so remarkable to me is how movies about this period can be so wonderfully filmed. It was a rich period, for those who were rich. And frankly, I would rather see how they lived (as supposed here) than how peasants survived on a bowl of gruel and moldy bread. I like the way in which the story unfolds and how we can see Moliere's talent start to bloom, from weak attempts at humor to full blown travesties of the upper class. I first read Tartuffe when I was 16 in English. I read Tartuffe in French when I was 21 and I understood it better. This movie, with its conception of how Tartuffe might have been conceived is actually quite clever, believable and wonderful. Bravo. My only criticism would be that it did not show what actually happened to this inventive, on the spot play after it was performed. Louis XIV finally had to ban it because the local archbishop called it heretical. Times may change, but religious nuts remain the same.

Pure fun & perfection

[signlady · 10/10 · 9 December 2021]

This movie is completely engaging - there are so many twists & so much humor as well as drama.

I was not very familiar with the works of Moliere, only slightly acquainted, but no matter.

As previously stated, one does not have to know a thing about Moliere to fully enjoy this film.

And I certainly was pulled in immediately - the costumes & sets are gorgeous, & the visual compositions of every scene are like a renaissance painting. The casting was perfect - each actor embodies their character perfectly so that even the almost-slap-stick comedy or most ridiculous behaviour of each character is entirely credible & believable, and it seems each actor is a master of the most perfect facial expressions tho' the dialogue is excellent, and I absolutely did not mind reading the English captions.

This is just one of those rare movies where casting, wardrobe, story, plot(s) & script, locations & set dressing, director, and every element just came together seamlessly and the result is perfect.

It's one I review several times throughout the year.