Moliere (2007)

"An extravagant and thoroughly irresistible story of intrigue, romance, comedy and artistic inspiration.  Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post
"Witty, enjoyable costume drama imagines formative episode in life of French comedy giant.  Bernard Besserglik, The Hollywood Reporter

Editor's Note Moliere, the French 17th century playwright behind THE MISANTHROPE and TARTUFFE, gets his SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE treatment in this entertaining romantic comedy-drama. Director Laurent Tirard paints a romantic portrait of the artist as a young man that's a deft mix of fact and fiction, involving wealthy buffoon Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini) who enlists Moliere's help to woo the icy Marquise Celimene (SWIMMING POOL's Ludivigne Sagnier). Jourdain's neglected wife (Laura Morante) regards Moliere's presence in their manor with suspicion (he's posing as a religious scholar). The callow Moliere finds himself drawn to Madame, despite her doubts, and she to him, especially when he helps her in aiding the forbidden romance of her daughter. Backed by a robust orchestral score, sumptuous period detail, and plenty of pratfall-suffused romantic entanglements (lifted from Moliere's plays), the movie bravely steps outside its dramatic outline to become a moving meditation on the meaning of love as selflessness, in the best French tradition of intellectual and romantic discourse. Romain Duris (THE BEAT MY HEART SKIPPED) is endearingly mangy as Moliere, but it's Morante who scores highest, playing yet another in Gallic cinema's many celebrated sexy, intelligent older women. It's in French with English subtitles.

	Edouard Baer
	Fabrice Luchini
	Laura Morante
	Romain Duris
	Christine De Jekel - Executive Producer
	Francoise Dupertuis - Production Designer
	Frederic Talgorn - Original Music By
	Gilles Henry - Cinematographer
	Gregoire Vigneron - Writer
	Laurent Tirard - Director
	Laurent Tirard - Writer
	Olivier Delbosc - Producer
	Valerie Deseine - Editor

Sight and Sound
"As Moliere, Romain Duris carries the film almost effortlessly....Laura Morante is equally compelling as his lover Elmire." 07/01/2007 p.64

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] wildly impressive French frolic....Both a glittering showcase for a literary giant's comic genius and a first-class farce in its own right. By turns funny, mysterious, suffering and sexy." 07/01/2007 p.42

Empire
3 stars out of 5 -- "Laurent Tirard's enjoyable biopic revels in the bits more traditional movies would leave behind....It's ace in the hole is Romain Duris -- a broad, flamboyant, totally engaging hero." 12/01/2007 p.208

Reel.com 10 of 10
By turns elegant and earthy, Laurent Tirard's Moliere is a buoyantly witty and wise seriocomic gem, blending fact and speculation to sparkling effect. Tirard's follow-up to his 2004 directorial debut, The Story of My Life, avoids the narrative pitfalls of the conventional biopic to craft an ingenious and unexpectedly moving portrait of the 17th century satirist, similar in theme and spirit to Shakespeare in Love (1998). Leaving all trace of his surly performance in The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005) behind, rising French star Romain Duris proves himself to be a nimble farceur in the title role of Tirard's film, a sophisticated tonic for viewers weary of special effects-driven sequels and crass slapstick comedies...Moliere belongs to Duris, who throws himself, often literally, into the demanding role with disarming abandon. While he's no stranger to comedy (L'Auberge Espagnole), Duris gives a superb, full-bodied performance that's nothing short of a revelation in Moliere, one of the year's best films to date. - Tim Knight