Beaumarchais, The Scoundrel
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais left an indelible mark on history. As a
playwright he penned The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of
Figaro. As an adviser to Louis XV and a spy, he averted a war between
Britain and France. And as a merchant, he surreptitiously supplied the American
Revolutionaries with crucial arms shipments. Unfortunately the dark, lavish
production by director Édouard Molinaro (La Cage aux Folles) isn't
as titillating as its subject. The film, which unfolds during the decade
preceding the French Revolution, begins as a bawdy good romp, but rather than
articulating the unrest of the commoner or extolling the humorous exploits of
the protagonist's womanizing ways, it wallows in the effete malaise of the
bourgeoisie and a languid stagings of Beaumarchais's plays.
What keeps Beaumarchais light and engaging is Fabrice Luchini in the
title role. He casts an inexorable exuberance as the morally ambiguous wit who
impishly dances between the comforts of the monarchy and the politically
perilous efforts to subvert its rules of censorship and birthright privileges.
Sandrine Kiberlain makes a delicate addition as Marie-Thérèse,
Beaumarchais's wife, and Florence Thomassin is a sassy treat as the
most-desired nymphet in Versailles. At the Kendall Square.
-- Tom Meek
|