In France in the 17th Century, during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, a young actress employed by Moli?re and his theatre group, briefly caught the attention of the court. Her name was Marquise, and her story is told in Vera Belmont`s lavishly produced new film. She was a child of the streets, a dancer sold by her father into prostitution, but she had a burning desire to act. Spotted by Gros-Rene, one of Moli?re`s leading performers, she agrees to marry him if he`ll make her an actress. She suffers from stagefright at first but before long her bawdy, uninhibited style has captivated first Moli?re, then the King... Eventually Marquise also entrances the playwright Racine, who becomes her lover and writes one of his most famous plays for her... This exuberant, bawdy film provides some marvellous insights into the theatre in one of its golden ages. Belmont indicates that this was an era when personal privacy went for very little; even the King himself - a wonderfully rich performance from Thierry Lhermitte - was forced to perform the most intimate acts in full view of members of his court. This is just one of the elements which makes the story of Marquise so fascinating; it is, eventually, almost a variation on All About Eve. Sophie Marceau is rather too modern as the captivating dancer, actress and coquette; Bernard Giraudeau is a raffish Moli?re, Patrick Timsit a touchingly vulnerable Gros-Rene and Lambert Wilson a dashing Racine. Lovers of French literature will find this foray into the world of some of the great figures of the 17th Century especially exhilirating and, although Vera Belmont doesn`t quite manage to elevate this material to the level of, say, the similarly themed Ridicule, there is still plenty to enjoy in Marquise.
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