2 DAYS IN PARIS
2 DAYS IN PARIS |
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Loosley adapting hearsay, an episode in the life of France's gifted playwright is brought to life. | score 3+ |
moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable) |
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| Cast Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini, Laura Morante, Edouard Baer, Ludvine Sagnier Director Laurent Tirard Screenwriter Laurent Tirard Country France (subtitles) Rating / Running Time PG / 120 minutes Australian Release April 2007 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2008
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
In
1658, Jean-Baptiste Moliere was the French answer to, well, if not
William Shakespeare at least Oscar Wilde. His gift for writing sharp,
witty satire filled playhouses across the country yet he was torn by
the desire to be more than just a comic. As a writer, and as an actor,
he wanted to be taken seriously. Around this time, at least according to Laurent Tirard’s light-hearted extraction of speculative events, Moliere (Romain Duris) got the best part of his life. Plucked from gaol by the aristocratic Jourdain (Fabrice Luchini) who seeks lessons in acting to seduce a much younger woman, Moliere assumes the role of a visiting priest. Jourdain’s wife (Laura Morante) rightly smells an impostor and quickly uncovers the deceit, then seduces him. But there’s more – naturellement –it wouldn’t be Moliere without complex storylines placing people in all manner of moral, and immoral, dilemmas. Such as Jordain’s troubled social standing, and the peril he visits on his daughter while trying to rectify the situation with Moliere’s help. Elegant and effortless – a scene between Duris, Morante and a mirror is a thing of beauty – Moliere overflows with reverence for and references to its subject’s life and work, a film that will entrance and delight his fans. This is also the film’s weak point. For the less familiar, and that is most of us, here is an entertaining romp that acquires an air of distance; as if it is in a joke it’s not sharing. That said, Tirard neatly balances fun and wit and issues, rather as the serio-comic playwright intended. In many ways, Moliere is the French answer to Shakespeare in Love and pleasingly, one without an eye on the international box office. // COLIN FRASER |