Moliere [2007] [DVD]

This incredible 4-hour film flies by and leaves you hungry for more. A veritable time machine, it somehow manages to give the viewer the experience of the material reality of Moliere's time, the reality which was the soil in which his genius was rooted and on which it fed. The struggle to live in the tiny interstices of freedom which is all we have even today is shown in a brutally uncompromising way, yet at no point does the film preach at you or push political agenda down your throat: it lets you see them and reach for them all by yourself. It is also the best account ever of the creative process artists emgage in, be they writers, actors, painters, anything.The whole film bubbles with joy and enthusiasm everyone involved in its making was experiencing. It was obviously a group endeavour, with everyone participating in everything. The musicians of Clemencic Consort, the seminal early music ensemble, doubled as extras, including their leader, Dr Clemencic, who selected and arranged the music of the period into the awesome soundtrack performed by his ensemble. The film includes the only big screen appearance of the late Rene Zosso, the charismatic hurdy-gurdy player and singer of extraordinary power and intensity.Get this historic DVD while you still can! It will be a revelation.

At its best, French cinema ensures that for a couple of delicious hours or so we're allowed to leave grim reality behind and be transported to another world. In this case, we're with Molière in C17 France - a world of wit, regal splendour, cuckoldry, foppery, charm and intrigue. And any illusion that has so much to offer is willingly entered and disbelief willingly suspended.Nearly everything about the film is deeply satisfying: sumptuous scenes, rich and vivid colours, well realised characters, a rounded plot (which leaves you with a feeling of completion) and even some social commentary: the aristocratic Dorante tells his son, 'In this house, one does not earn money, one marries it. Work,' he sneers contemptuously, 'how pathetic.' Dorante Junior seems prodigiously avant garde, however, preferring the idea of a life in trade to one of idle richness. He tells the assembled guests that opening a business in Spain, where labour costs are four times lower than France, might be worth considering. 'Why not in China?' his father asks mockingly but prophetically. (Maybe HE was the one with business acumen, after all.)There are only a couple of times where things aren't quite so assured (like the theatre audience's reaction to the hero's on-stage buffoonery, which isn't nearly as side-splitting as we're led to believe). But too much carping about Molière would be, well, misanthropic.This one is right up there with the very best historical-cultural dramas: alongside Stoppard's film of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Amadeus, for example. It's the best subtitled film I've seen since Camilleri's Montalbano films hit our screens last winter.

Moliere's 'Tartuffe' is one of the most magnificently insightful and best plays ever written. It is about the scandalous behaviour of the villain priest Tartuffe who uses his priestly position to progress his licentious intentions. He promises his godly forgiveness for the sexual sins of both himself and his female seductee Madeleine and has such rhyming couplets such as 'And thus lust we can feel may all be gain, God-given pleasure, lacking guilt or pain.' I have attended three theatres performing Tartuffe during the Edinburgh festival. The best of these was the one featuring the translation of Tartuffe ['or Whit Got Him Intae Aw That Bother'] into Glaswegian Scots by Liz Lochhead [see "Thon Man Moliere, Liz Lochead, Nick Hern Books Lonsdon, 2017.] Liz has authored more than four original .stage plays and six translation/adaptations and she was the Makar [=The National Poet of Scotland] from 2011-2016 and she won the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2015 and the Sunday Herald Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Whilst the "Shakespeare in love" comparisons may be hard to shift, I think this film needs to be considered in it's own right as story is so different and intelligently assembled. It certainly exceeded my expectations for, although it is certainly very mainstream (and all the better for that), the story is excellent and cleverly incorporates elements from the playright's "Tartuffe" with Moliere being released from prison to take part in a scheme which ultimately provides him with the inspiration for his play. In fact, I wish I was familiar with Moliere's work as I am sure that this would have made me enjoy it all the more. The humour is really funny (loved the hunting scene) and the actors are clearly having a whale of a time with the costumes and lavish locations. I love all the plots and schemes that the various characters are involved in and the way everything comes to a largely satisfying conclusion.All in all, this is one of the best and most satisfying French films I have seen and one that I would thoroughly recommend.

I really enjoyed watching this film - I was entertained from beginning to end and laughed quite a bit! Definitely worth a watch. However, the only thing that annoyed me were the subtitles; I was shocked to find out that the only possiblity for watching the film was in French but with English subtitles. I had bought this dvd for a german friend who speaks french so in fact we didn't want the subtitles. It was therefore quite distracting having them there and affected our enjoyment of the film. Therefore, this version of the dvd may not be the best one to buy if you speak/want to practice your French!Overall a great film though!

Excellent