Reviews

Molière

The legendary playwright is better

By BROOKE HOLGERSON | August 7, 2007

1.5 Stars

MOLIÈRE: Where is the biting satire?

There is a burgeoning trend whereby the work of a legendary writer is attributed to some spurious personal experience, as if art needed a source to spring from other than the writer’s mind. Director Laurent Tirard trots out this benighted premise, taking on no less an artist than Molière and his most famous works, Tartuffe and Le misanthrope. That the result is less fun than actually watching Tartuffe is not surprising. What is surprising is how little humor Tirard and his lead, the usually charismatic Romain Duris, wrest from their tale of hidden identities, star-crossed lovers, and priggish bores. Duris plays Molière, who, pre-fame and bankrupt, is taken in by an idiot landowner (Fabrice Luchini) who needs his help in winning the beautiful and witty Célimène (Ludivine Sagnier). The plot mirrors that of Molière’s plays; what’s missing is the biting satire that got him in so much trouble back then and makes his work worth watching 350 years later.

Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Performing Arts, Ludivine Sagnier, More

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