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Ridicule | Year: 1996 Classification: Foreign Film - French Directed: - Patrice Leconte Actors/Actresses: - Charles Berling - Jean Rochefort - Fanny Ardant Dramatic Invective Patrice Leconte's film on the pageantries and sophistries of King Louis XVI's Court, a place where there are many words flying about yet little substance in governance. The protagonist is Ponceludon de Malavoy (Charles Berling), a low-ranked nobleman who seeks a royal grant to drain the swamps plaguing his region. He is, unfortunately, a new-comer to the King's court and needs to be properly introduced to the King. He receives help from the Marquis de Bellegarde (Jean Rochefor) and his loving daughter (Judith Godrèche.) Malavoy also comes under the machinations of Madame de Blayac (Fanny Ardant) to befriend the King. As he navigates through the King's court, Malavoy is subjected to the invectives of sycophantic nobles who seek to exploit the King for their own petty needs. With little wealth and a low title, Malavoy soon realizes that the only weapon he has is his wit (esprit.) As he come closer to appealing to the King, he maneuvers his wit and invective as a musketeer wields his rapier. The script is excellent and the story is filled with the art of invective and wit. A perfect example of some of the witty encounters in the film is when the King asks Malavoy why he has made jokes of only the aristocracy but not of him? With a reserved smile Malavoy replies, "The King is not a subject your Majesty!" Literate and Wicked Ridicule is a French film which takes place in 1783, a few years before Louis XVI lost the ability to wear a hat; where "...in this country, vices are without consequence, but ridicule can kill." The film is about the effect of wit and word play on people's lives and careers. Malicious, mannered and highly enjoyable. Charles Berling, Jean Rochefort, Bernard Giraudeau and Fanny Ardant are excellent. A man would be a fool not to want to bed Ardant, and even more a fool to trust her. The film is sumptuously mounted and the DVD transfer does it justice. The dialogue is so clever a knowledge of French might be in order, but the English subtitles do a superb job of conveying the witty, cruel, self-serving word play. About the DVD... The DVD is pretty bare bones. You get a nice widescreen transfer (the full-screen VHS was pan and scan, so you do see more image with the widescreen) and surround sound. The English subtitles are not "burned in" to the image...you must activate them with the captions option on your DVD player. The only "extra" is a commercial ballyhooing Miramax's achievements in recent years. Buy Ridicule at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Ridicule Search with the Priority Search Engine on Ridicule This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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