French Cinema: Moliere by Laurent Tirard (2007)

Molière was a French playwright and actor who lived in the middle of the 17th century.  At the outset of the film you sense that his life was not an easy one.  We see him tossed in prison for unpaid debts.  This is biographical but what follows is fiction, and a kind of a pastiche of Moliere's comedies, for which he was deservedly famous. 

In this story he is bailed out of this bad situation by a wealthy merchant, M. Jourdain,  who has  desires for a noble woman, Celemine, even though he is already married.  To capture her heart, he hires Molière to instruct him in acting and to consult on the play that he has written to impress her. 

The comedy ensues from these ill-fated efforts and the schemings of his "friend" Dorante who is a member of the French nobility but is financially strained.  Indeed, his chateau is falling to pieces and is needing of much expensive renovation. 

So there you have it, the rich merchant in search of noble connections and a Count in search of a new infusion of money.  His son wants to work, but to the nobility to work is beneath their dignity.    

Everyone in this story has an angle and a secret objective.  While Jourdain is attempting not very successfully to woo Celemine 17th century style, Moliere is having more success with his neglected wife.   And because it is a comedy drawn from Moliere's own famous comedies, all's well that ends well. It is a beautifully photographed and enjoyable period comedy.