Film review #9- Molière

This film is an interesting one. As you may know, Molière (real name Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) was a playwright born in 1622, who is famous for writing comedies. The film, directed by Laurent Tirard, is about Molière before he became famous. He is thrown into prison at the beginning of the film for being unable to repay his debt and is released by M. Jourdain, who agrees to pay his debt if he helps him to perfect a play he has written for a beautiful Marquise.  Actually, the film is mostly fictional, although some parts are similar to some of the plays written by Molière, such as Tartuffe (which I have now finished, by the way!), and Le Misanthrope and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. 


What I found most interesting about this film was these similarities- I have watched this film twice now, once before reading Tartuffe and once after- and actually my enjoyment of the film was greatly increased by reading the play (I kinda felt as if I was in on a private joke). One of the scenes is incredibly similar to Tartuffe, in fact, in which Jourdain's wife, Elmire, persuades her husband to hide under a table so she can prove to him that he is an imposter. 


I'd say that this film is a romantic comedy, but not a "Mean Girls" kind of romantic comedy- it's more sophisticated, while still being incredibly funny and very romantic as well. Of course, it's also a historical film (although can you call it historical when it's not actually true?), so I guess that makes it a historical romantic comedy. Genre has always confused me, and this film certainly does not have just one genre. 


As I just said, this film is hilarious. Jourdain, played by Fabrice Luchini, is probably one of the funniest characters; he is naive and a pushover, his attempts to impress the Marquise are so over the top, and he always manages to say the wrong thing to her. One scene I found particularly funny was when he wants to write her a note, and wants to say "Fair Marquise, your lovely eyes make me die of love", using those exact words, but in a different order. Molière makes several suggestions- "Of love, fair Marquise, your lovely eyes make me die", etc, but in the end, they decide that the original is best. Another scene, possibly my favourite, is the first 1 minute 40 seconds of this clip:

If you found this funny, then watch the rest of the film- it's good fun, and I would definitely recommend it!


I've decided to start adding to trailers to my reviews, so here's the one for this film: 

Overall, just to be boring, it's another
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆


Caitlin