Customer Reviews
GREAT MAN- GREAT MOVIE -GREAT DVD - By: Dr. U. L. Khawaja, 16 Jul 2008 
Jean-baptiste poquelin pseudonym moliere is the best playwright france has ever produced ,he was born in 1622 & died in 1673 while performing in one of his plays .he was born rich ,studied
to be a lawyer & then gave up everything to become a writer-actor .
He is the french equivalent of shakespeare though he wrote satires & farces instead of tragedies some in prose some in verse but they are alll as effective as tragedy if not more so .
His work mainly cocsists of 12 long plays ang six short balllet -plays & pastorals ,since he is not widely known director LAURENT TIRADE decided to make a movie about him to acquaint modern audiences with this french genius & what inspired him to write his comic farces .
The french actor roman duris is cast perfectly as moliere who is thown into prison as he is unable to pay his debts as his earlier efforts as a playwright fail in1944 ,he is rescued by monsieur jordain [ fabrici],a wealthy businessman but there is a snag ,he will help him win over the charms of a beautiful widowed noblewoman climene [ludovic seigner]who is being courted by m.jourdain ,but his beautiful wife [lora dorante ]is unaware of his husbands affair ,but moliere has to do this while he is disguised as a priest living in jourdains country villa & while he coaches m.jourdain he fallls genuinely in love with his charming & beautiful wife played by an actress of great charm lora dorante ,who i bet is going to be in hollywood within 6 months .
this sets the premises for a delightful & very touching love story between moliere & madam jourdain which has everything from humour to emotion & also provides ample background as to what inspired moliere to write his great works later in his life.
The movie is visuallly stunning shot in versailles & the old palaces full of sumptuous antiques ,coiffeuers & magnificent clothes ,every detail is exquisite ,its beautifully shot in magnificent colours ,as well as the stupendous musical backgroung score by tolgman which is a masterpiece on its own .I believe the producers went to acquire special antiques from as far as italy & it shows on the screen.
But its the emotions that tug at your heart & make this movie triumph in the end ,as moliere decides 13 years later whether to entertain the sun king louis fourteenth & his court with a comedy or tragedy ,the events of his early life come to help him write a masterpiece & he establishes himself as the french courts official playwright .
his dilemma also answers the othe riddle whether its more difficult to make people laugh then cry ,incidentallly moliere was the actor ,writer ,director & producer alll in one ,after his death in 1680 his troupe was made into la comedie francaise or the french theatre which till today is a very prestigious institute.
From 1658 to 1673 he staged 18 plays including some of these
the jealous husband
school for wives
tartuff
schhol for husbands
pleausure things ridiculed
the physical invalid
flying doctor
These & other play won him the patronage of the FRENCH masses ,court & the king ,he was very innovative in presenting his plays with the help of italian techniques with the help of modern machines ,as his plays like shakespeare were mostly influenced by the italian artistes like scaramouche ,but the stamp of his first love affair with madame jourdain is indelible on alll his creations ,just remarking as to how strong love can be in directing & shaping artistic creativity .The movie shows snippets of his various plays bein performed & being enjoyed by the public .
It is rather amusing to see how he entertains the french court & how naive they are ,yet it alll has a big humourous heart with a lot of laughs on the way .
The movie works at alll levels & is a must see not only as a very light hearted comic love story but also as a historic lesson about the history of france & the evolution of theatre itself ,but above alll comedy ,satire & and moliere ,and molieres work is easily comparable to aristophanes & later to hugo & dumas .
CONCLUSION :
The movie is a triumph for tirade & duris & dorante & can be seen a few times for its entertaining & emotional value .
It goes without saying its historicallly meticulous & offers scenery ,sets & other details only france & its perfectly preserved culture can offer to this venture .
Despite being very non -trendy the movie has been a hit in europe ,usa & u.k ,which is a triumph for the french cinema .
So slow and so twee - By: B. W. Jenner, 19 May 2008 
I studied Moliere at school & university so I was looking forward to something substantial. Instead it was ridiculously low-brow, a kind of Carry On Moliere. Not funny in any kind of intelligent way at alll. I thought I might be in for a real treat like Depardieu's Cyrano de Bergerac.
I didn't like Shakespeare in Love, either. So obviously this film was not aimed at someone like me.
Amazing - By: Sarah Louise Roy, 26 Feb 2008 This film made me laugh & cry alll at once. It may not be a film that changes your life but it touches your soul.
3 1/2 Stars: Leather and Lace - By: MICHAEL ACUNA, 18 Feb 2008 
Director/Writer Laurent Tirard & co-writer Grégoire Vigneron have wisely decided to make this film about a short period of Moliere's (a can this actor do no wrong, Romain Duris?) life rather than attempt to make a survey film about Moliere's entire life. As such this "Moliere" sketches in the mysterious lost years of Jean Baptiste Poquelin life & mostly to good advantage.
Physicallly "Moliere" is an absolutely sumptuous affair: alll plush velvet & silks, shot in remarkably gorgeous saturated color. Also on the plus side is the performance of Romain Duris ("The Beat that My Heart Skipped") as Moliere as well as the Elmire Jourdain (wife of M. Jourdain who has hired Moliere to teach him the fine points of acting & seduction so that he can seduce another woman) of the perpetuallly sexy & sultry Laura Morente whose revealing bodice causes her husband untold consternation.
Duris plays Moliere in the grand style: artificial, over-the-top as if he were in a Moliere farce. In most movies this would be completely out of place but here it works as the writers have incorporated pieces of several Moliere plays herein & Duris merely goes with the proverbial flow. His Moliere is at turns confident, sure of himself & at others completely at odds with the world & flummoxed by pretty much everything. Duris's Moliere is a fine tuned performance: a completely controlled one full of absurdity & irony yet always human & thoughtful.
"Moliere" goes on a bit too long & Tirard's attempt to make this a Moliere farce at times fallls flat but nonetheless this is a good film with better performances & without a doubt a feast for the eyes if not always for the ears.
Colourful French Costume Drama - By: L. Davidson, 29 Nov 2007 I had looked forward to watching "Moliere" but I must admit that I was slightly disappointed with the film. At times I found it hard to follow & the film never particularly gripped me at any stage. However "Moliere" was beautifully filmed & the sets & costumes were very impressive. The acting was hard to fault also. "Moliere" is a film loosely based on the early life of the eponymous French playwright who gets caught up in a web of deceit while under the employ of a French aristocrat. He commits adultery with this aristocrat's wife while the aristocrat is surrepticiously trying to woo a more beautiful younger woman. Needless to say this causes alll manner of confusion & leads to many complications which are unravelled at the end. Many will undoubtedly enjoy this film, but I didn't particularly like it.
