The Wages Of Sin And Desire in 1644
The Popcorn Reel Film Review: "Moliere"
By Omar P.L. Moore/August 9, 2007
Ludivine Sagnier as Celimine and Romain Duris as Moliere, in Laurent
Tirard's "Moliere", which opened in San Francisco and surrounding cities
last week, while continuing in New York and Los Angeles. (Photo: Sony
Pictures Classics)
Laurent Tirard stokes the fires of passions of lust, longing and desire
in "Moliere", which opened late last month in New York and Los Angeles and last
week in San Francisco. The film will continue to open around the country
over the next few weeks. Mr. Tirard's film about the legendary comedic
artist and actor from France alternatively plays as light-hearted comedic farce
and subtly suspenseful drama - to the extent that such is possible - and all of
the film's actors are in thorough enjoyment of the proceedings, which helps turn
what could have been a so-so film into an admirable one.
Romain Duris (of "The Beat My Heart Skipped") is terrific here as a sexy,
charming and debonair Moliere, a presumed remake and upgrade of the real-life
Moliere. Here, Mr. Duris' Moliere, who leads his acting troupe around
France, has not paid his debts and is thrown into debtor's prison in the
seventeenth century (circa 1644). The wealthy Monsieur Jourdain (Eduoard
Baer) releases the failing and floundering actor on one condition: that Moliere
teach Jourdain the craft of stage acting and get him closer to the lust of his
married life, the acerbic but attractive Celimine (Ludivine Sagnier).
Meanwhile, Elmire, Jourdain's wife (Laura Morante) becomes a very desirable
proposition for Moliere. Zut alors!
Tirard accomplishes the difficult feat of making a film about acting and the
theater not feel like a staged or stagey production. The film has a deeper
dimension to it than the two-dimensional stage setting, and that's thanks
largely to the performances, with Duris lending an emotional range to his
Moliere. Laura Morante, who starred with Javier Bardem in the 2003 film
"The Dancer Upstairs", is intelligently seductive and sexy as Elmire. She
plays the role of conflicted, eager, playful and passionate wife whose loyalty
is to the man who desires her, and Ms. Morante does very well here, as does Mr.
Baer as the cuckolded and adulterous desirer of Celimine, who, as portrayed by
Sagnier ("Swimming Pool") is a slight departure from some of her previous roles
as a siren.
There are other stars of "Moliere", and they are behind the camera. The
director crafts a warm film, full of merriment, some sadness and regret, but
most of all life and passion. Mr. Tirard also wrote the film's script,
which is littered with lines of irony and does not sell any of the main
characters short. Tirard shows a remarkable grasp of directing in only his
second feature film and is adept at orchestrating sequences that are both large
and small without being overly operatic or stylized. As for style, the
costume designers Gilles Bodu-Lemoine, Pui Lai Huam and Pierre-Jean Laroque make
each of the actors look better than they could have. Cinematographer
Gilles Henry captures some beautiful palatial shots both in exteriors and
interiors, while Francoise Dupertuis production design brings a clean, tidy look
and feel to the film.
In the final analysis, "Moliere" is full of fun and wit, and while not everyone
may be rushing to their local art house theater to see it, Mr. Tirard's film is
worth a look on the big screen, a place where it plays and shines the best.
"Moliere" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for some
sexual content. The film is in the French language with English subtitles. The film's duration is two hours.
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