MoliÈre

Synopsis

A disarmingly shameless French hommage to Shakespeare in Love, Laurent Tirard’s elegant and witty seventeenth-century comedy constructs a similar romantic contrivance around alleged events from the life of the playwright Molière (the pseudonym of Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), taking advantage of a period in 1644 that has never been reliably documented. In this heavily fictionalised version, the debt-ridden young actor-writer is hired by the wealthy Monsieur Jourdain to coach the latter in the art of performance in order to win the heart of a widowed countess. His pupil’s painfully obvious lack of talent makes this a thankless task, rendered somewhat more diverting by the alluring presence of Madame Jourdain. The resulting farcical liaisons lead to Molière’s realisation that his initial pretensions towards tragedy are massively outweighed by a supremely natural gift for comedy. Unsurprisingly, the film has countless allusions to his still unwritten plays, though they function more as bonbons for the well-read than vital keys to comprehension.

DVD Extras: Behind The Scenes; Making-of (Dans les Coulissess de Moliere)

Language

French (Standard)

Country

France

Year of release

2007

Year of production

2007

Subjects

French studies

Keywords

biographies; dramatised documentary films; Molière, Jean Baptiste

Credits

Director

Laurent Tirard

Cast

Edouard Baer
Laura Morante
Ludivine Sagnier
Romain Duris

Distribution Formats

Type

DVD

Format

Region 2 PAL

Price

£19.99

Availability

Sale

Duration/Size

120 minutes

Year

2007

Distributor

Name

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Web

http://www.fox.co.uk/ External site opens in new window

Phone

020 7753 8686

Fax

020 7437 1625

Address

Twentieth Century House
31-32 Soho Square
London
W1D 3AP

Notes

Feature films from Fox and MGM for sale on DVD and Blu-ray via retail outlets.

 

Available from retail outlets