Patrice Laconte is a filmmaker who likes to deal with stories about peculiar relationships. This period piece deals with the peculiar relationships that sprung up during the reign of Louis XVI. Wit ruled the day and was the way to catch the ear of the king. Sincerity was looked down upon. Those best at publicly ridiculing his fellow man were the celebrity du jour. So those who actually had sincere plans needed to hide them under the mask of mockery.
Le Marquis Gregoire Ponceludon de Malavoy (Charles Berling, SUMMER HOURS) is a country nobleman with a grand plan to drain the swamps of Dombes in order to save the people from disease. He decides to travel to Versailles in order to see the king about his idea. He is quickly rejected. Along the road back home, he is mugged and falls under the care of the doctor Le Marquis de Bellegarde (Jean Rochefort, THE MAN ON THE TRAIN), who takes the young man under his wing and gives him a chance at court. There Gregoire shows off his biting wit. He catches the attention of the rich widow Madame de Blayac (Fanny Ardant, ELIZABETH) and the current wit champion L'Abbee de Vilecourt (Bernard Giraudau, A MATTER OF TASTE).
While Bellegarde marvels at Gregoire's mental dexterity, the young engineer doesn't particularly like the game he has to play. Meanwhile, Bellegarde's daughter Mathilde (Judith Godreche, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK) is playing a game of her own lining up as the second wife of the ancient nobleman Monsieur Montalieri (Bernard Dheran, DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL). They're just waiting for his first wife to die. It is the only way for her to fund her research into diving bells. Gregoire and Mathilde come together in their passion for science, but science needs money to fund it and love doesn't pay the bills.
Two related scenes define the mood of the era. Gregoire and Bellegarde are traveling with the sign language innovator Charles-Michel de l'Epee (Jacques Mathou, DELICATESSEN). He offers to take in Bellegarde's deaf ward, who is viewed as the local idiot. Bellegarde scuttles off the idea to save face. L'Epee's passion of doing good is a social faux pas. Later l'Epee will have a chance to show off his work at court. Few have the guts to commend him, most just make fun of the deaf and dumb patients as if they were dogs dressed up in formal attire to amuse them.
The court, with great snobbery, say they are following the writings of Voltaire, but seem to have no clue what their idol was talking about when it came to social justice. Louis XVI (Urbain Cancelier, AMIELE) is a symbol of this phoniness. The monarch would shun longtime supporters if they weren't witty enough like a teenage coward shuns an old friend because the friend isn't cool enough to be among his new pals. The postscript to the film reminds us of the how the French Revolution dealt with these out of touch privileged elite. They ate cake while laughing about the dying peasants and lost their heads too.
Under Louis XVI, the privileged class mocked the poor. They can't imagine what it is like to be poor, turning their noses up at the retched masses that are just "bleeding the nation dry." The elite of the 18th century kept particular company and threw out anyone who said anything against the prevailing wisdom of the king. Gregoire tries to fit in but he's seen the poor and all the wine and women in Versailles can't make him forget. Some things never change.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
