Published on February 14, 2024 11:06 p.m. Updated on February 15, 2024 10:49 a.m
Video length: 2 min
Molière: Inside the Mind of a Comedy Genius Molière: Inside the Mind of a Comedy Genius – (France 2)
Molière died 350 years ago. “The Imaginary Molière,” a film starring Laurent Lafitte and Pierre Arditi, tells part of his life. It hits theaters on Wednesday, February 14th. The opportunity for 20 hours to get into Molière's head.
It was a close call and Molière died on stage in his role as The Imaginary Sick, a disgrace. The real armchair was kept as a relic by the Comédie Française, as was his cap. Nothing predestined Jean-Baptiste Poquelin for the theater. He was born not far from the Louvre and grew up in the workshop of his father, the king's upholsterer. Molière will succeed him, an advantage for the already recognized actor. In the evening he plays, and in the morning he attends the king's resurrection and mingles with the crowd of courtiers. An unexpected approach to Louis XIV and an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the human comedy at the head of the kingdom.
Uncompromising humor
Tragedy reigns in his time, but he likes to laugh. Molière is unsurpassed when it comes to using his pen to outline people's ugly failings: with “The Miser and the Misanthrope” he invented the French comedy. But his uncompromising humor sometimes drew the ire of the believers of the time when he denounced religion. Even if it meant making people shudder, Molière made his contemporaries laugh, even the Sun King, who made him his protégé and undoubtedly cared for his offspring.
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