'Marguerite': Exclusive Season at Luna Cinemas

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Thu 21 Apr 2016 - Wed 27 Apr 2016

Really good French films offer an abundance of intellectual meanings with memorable characters and existential themes – Marguerite is a really good French film.



Marguerite is a comedy that satirically portrays the manners, fashions and social/political conventions during the Golden Age of Paris, known for its unbridled and exuberant behaviour. Director Xavier Giannoli shows a great understanding of that society; he respects the wit and dialogue of the script and his direction valued that over the of physical comedy. The result being that film Marguerite is a wonderfully clever comedy of manners – a story of self serving fabrications, falsehoods and flat-out lies manufactured and maintained to ridiculous degree in order continue and further orchestrate one person's fantasy.

Paris, having began the 1920s at the end of the World War I, had become the meeting place of artists and intellectuals alike. Marguerite, the central character and the film's namesake, is neither artist nor intellectual. Marguerite (played by Catherine Frot) is wealthy, but despite having plenty, she is left wanting. This emotional deficiency in Marguerite transforms her character into someone more sympathetic. When her character is set amongst and contrasted against the two-faced upper crust, Marguerite's extrinsic personality traits further portray her as being more tragic.

Marguerite is a rich patron of the arts. Unfortunately she does not want her support for the arts to stop with just her financial contribution. She is endlessly enthusiastic and passionate about music and that is only equaled by her enthusiasm and passion for performance. Her dream is to sing opera for adoring audiences (because her own wanting has to include the adoration and attention of her husband).

The film is divided into five chapters and chapter one begins at the invite only Amadeus Club, a charity concert hosted by herself on the Marguerite Dumont Estate with the proceeds to go to the war orphans. The film's audience are included into this event and they are introduced to the main characters: Hazel (Christa Therat) - an up and coming soprano; Marguerite's opportunist husband Georges Dumont (Andre Marcon) in his Sim-Standard automobile, his means of avoidance. Madelbos (Denis Mpunga) is the over protective butler who conducts surveillance over Marguerite, this enables her husband and him to carefully orchestrate the fantasy. Madelbos' dialogue holds much of the sub-text of the movie. Jumping the wall into that event and the movie are the uninvited anarchists Kyril (Aubert Fenov) and Lucien (Sylvain Dieuaide), the young journalist.

The diva Marguerite bravely sings to her sycophantic acquaintances and it is so horrible, it is cringe worthy horrible. What follows is the not so brave whispers of "she sings divinely out of tune, sublimely out of tune, wildly out of tune" by the same people who then give loud applause. The next day Lucien's published review of the performance aptly titled "The Orphans Voice" describes Marguerite's voice as "the human truth". The article being an anarchist's insider joke on the pretence of highbrow musical culture but when the paradox is lost and taken as an excellent, complimentary review, the dream, its deception and deceit spin out of control.

Marguerite opening performance of her own event is The Magic Flute's impossible aria, Queen of the Night. The performed music are deliberate prompts that add to the narrative. For example, Mozart's Magic Flute is considered a nonsense opera where the listeners have to exact the sense of it all for their selves. The same has to be done as the tone-deaf soprano mercenary voice of Marguerite murders any magic in the music. Another example is when it is suggested by Marguerite's faux friends that the solution may simply be in the gaining of some lessons. As if that in itself would enable Marguerite to accomplish her dream. So Madelbos blackmails an insolvent opera star Atos Pezzini (Michel Fau) into giving her lessons. Strategically we are introduced to him as he performs Pagliacci by Leoncauvaillo which makes the statement that clowns are real people too and there is a thin line between the paradigms of comedy and tragedy.

The acting, editing and production are great. The cinematography, set design, costumes, props and music all have roles in this movie. They are all part of the narrative that gives way to the themes - whether those themes be part of the class commentary or such philosophical questions as - does the truth kill the lie, or the does the lie kill the truth?

Marguerite is inspired by the life of American soprano Florence Foster Jenkins whose life will be portrayed again with the soon to be released film Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant. No doubt there will be comparisons made, but Marguerite was first to be released and a very good French film is a hard act to follow.

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!date 21/04/2016 -- 27/04/2016
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