Molière (2007 film)

Molière
Original film poster
Directed by	Laurent Tirard
Written by	Laurent Tirard Grégoire Vigneron
Produced by	Olivier Delbosc Marc Missonnier
Starring	Romain Duris Laura Morante Ludivine Sagnier
Cinematography	Gilles Henry
Edited by	Valérie Deseine
Music by	Frédéric Talgorn
Production companies	Fidélité Productions France 2 Cinéma France 3 Cinéma
Distributed by	Wild Bunch
Release date	31 January 2007 (2007-01-31)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	$13.1 million
Box office	$10.9 million

Molière is a 2007 period biographical film directed by Laurent Tirard and starring Romain Duris as Molière. It was released in Europe in January 2007 and in the United States in July 2007. It was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival where Fabrice Luchini won the Silver George for Best Actor. The screenplay was co-written by Tirard and Grégoire Vigneron.

Plot

The film begins in 1658, when the French actor and playwright returns to Paris with his theatrical troupe to perform in the theatre that the king's brother has given him. Most of the film is in the form of a flashback to 1645. Following an unsuccessful run as a tragic actor, Molière is released from debtor's prison by Monsieur Jourdain, a wealthy commoner with social pretensions, who agrees to pay the young actor's debts if Molière teaches him to act.

Jourdain, a married man with two daughters, hopes to use this talent to ingratiate himself with Célimène, a recently widowed aristocrat with whom he has become obsessed. He hopes to perform a short play he has written for the occasion. Molière, however, has been presented to the family and staff of Monsieur Jourdain as Tartuffe, a priest who is to serve as tutor for the Jourdains' younger daughter. As the story progresses Molière proceeds to fall in love with Jourdain's neglected wife, Elmire. Sub-plots involve the love life of the Jourdains' older daughter, and the intrigues of the penniless and cynical aristocrat Dorante at the expense of the gullible Jourdain.

The story is mostly fictional and many scenes follow actual scenes and text in Molière's plays including Tartuffe, Le Misanthrope, Le Malade imaginaire and Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, whose principal character is also named Jourdain. It is implied that these "actual" events in his life inspired the plays of his maturity.

Cast

• Romain Duris as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin
• Fabrice Luchini as M. Jourdain
• Laura Morante as Elmire Jourdain
• Edouard Baer as Dorante
• Ludivine Sagnier as Célimène
• Fanny Valette as Henriette Jourdain
• Gonzague Montuel as Valère
• Gilian Petrovski as Thomas, son of Dorante
• Sophie-Charlotte Husson as Madeleine Béjart
• François Civil as Louis Béjart
• Anne Suarez as Catherine de Brie
• Annelise Hesme as Marquise du Parc
• Nicolas Vaude as Monsieur

Critical reception

The film holds a rating of 70% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 86 reviews, with a rating average of 6.4 out of 10. The site's consensus reads, "Molière is a sophisticated, witty biopic of the great satirist."

External links

• Molière at IMDb