Marquise

The first virtue is the performance , beautiful at whole, of Bernard Girodeau as Moliere. He gives the playwriter so well known by his admirers. The second, off course, Sophie Marceau . And, sure, the tension , familiar in its traits for the fans of French historical drama. A film about theater, love and rivalry, giving slices from Moliere and Racine, proposing the embroidery of rising and fall of an actress . So, just beautiful.

The film is a very good story I like the cast, principally Bernard Giraudeau, Patrick Timsit, Thierry Lhermitte and the muse Sophie Marceau who in that time was the most beautiful actress of the cinema of all universe!! It is my opinion about her. Sophie shines in all takes, every angle and in each glance. She gets reach her apex when she is dancing... Marceau is the star of the movie but the writers are good, they were precise with the scenery, wrote interesting dialogs and could figure on a good cast. Direction well-made by Vera Belmont. I just thing about the end of the film was not so good, they would get more tension in the last scene, my impression it was made on the run...But anyway, I like very much this film!

It is so nice to see a person encouraged to follow her dream - despite opposition from others, and despite having to overcome her own fears at times. The ending is sad but it fits with the film's whole tragic theme, and works well as the play-within-a-play. Excellent performances by Marceau and Giraudeau (as Moliere). Excellent insight into the lives of travelling players, and Louis XIV's era.

La Marquise (Sophie Marceau), an French actress of the 17th century, is another attempt to make a French movie about the times of Louis XIV. The period is well depicted and the Court of the King is brought into images as it must have been at that time I imagine. Special is the scene where King Louis XIV (Thierry Lhermitte) goes publicly into the fountains of Versailles - the first and only time that he took a bath - and he is accompanied after some hesitation by La Marquise. We see also the struggles around the throne with Molière (Bernard Giraudeau) and Racine (Lambert Wilson) who have La Marquise as there mistress, and the architect of the gardens Le Nôtre and the composer Lully (Remo Girone). King Louis is in this movie a young patron of the arts who encourages Molière while writing "Tartuffe" or Racine writing "Andromaque".

......A Quelques Traits Un Peu Vieux

Souvenez-Vous Qu'à Mon Age

Vous ne Vaudrez Guère Mieux

(Marquise,If My Face is an old man's one/Remember when you get old,you won't look any better)

A poem written by an aging Corneille for Marquise -which is a first name ,not a title- which would never come true cause MARQUISE died young.

Generally I 'm not a fan of Sophie Marceau but she's acceptable here,particularly when she dances .She gets strong support from Bernard Giraudeau as Molière,Lambert Wilson as Racine,Anemone as "la Voisin" (the poison expert) and even Thierry Lhermitte as the king.

Vera Belmont successfully recreates the GRand Siècle when the Sun king used to reign: from the muddy filthy streets to the luxury of Versailles and Vaux-le-Vicomte where the nobles hide their grime behind an outrageous make up.

Some lines are very funny but you have got to have some knowledge of classic French literature so you can appreciate such witty words as "let's say "Tartuffe" takes place in England or among that infamous Protestant reformed religion!"Belmont also draws an interesting parallel between Racine's "Andromaque" and the young widow Marquise .

Best scene: Duparc's burial at night,for at the time thespians were excommunicated .Giraudeau's lines goes straight to the heart.There is a similar scene in Abel Gance's "Le Capitaine Fracasse" .That director was certainly a major influence on Belmont:like him,her characters often use lines of poetry.