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Ridicule [1996]
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Literate and wicked
Review date: 2007-08-15 Rating: 8 out of 10
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.
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Reviews
Delicious period piece
Review date: 2007-07-25 Rating: 8 out of 10
Well, it is.
'Ridicule' is one of those lovely films to be enjoyed again and again. It's amusing, clever, and the period look is ravishing.
The performances are of the highest calibre, and the screenplay is one of those rare piece of screenwriting that doesn't take the audience for half-wits.
Especially worthy of note is the scene in which English 'Humour' (or 'Humah') is described at great length.
It won't change the world in the way that the French Revolution did, but it's none the less a delightful way to spend just over 90 minutes.
"Wit opens any door."
Review date: 2007-07-01 Rating: 6 out of 10
Sometimes with movie distribution, as with humour, timing is everything. Patrice Leconte's Ridicule is a long way from the best work from almost anyone involved, yet still proved a major arthouse success outside France, picking up Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Foreign Film, winning a BAFTA as well as a nomination for the Palme D'Or at Cannes and winning four Cesars, including Best Film and Best Director, as well as another eight nominations in France itself. All of which leaves you with the suspicion that it couldn't have been up against much competition that year. It's certainly not a bad film, but at times it's almost as slight as its subject - the rules of wit and ridicule at the Court of Versailles under King Louis XVI, where you live or die by the readiness of your wit and where a single misstep can cast you into oblivion.
Charles Berling is the impoverished minor aristocrat seeking royal patronage for a drainage project to stop his peasants from dropping like flies only to discover that the only way to get near to the King in a world where wit opens any door is to demonstrate a sharper and more malicious tongue than those around him. Tutored in the rules of engagement by Jean Rochefort's friendly courtier and both championed and checked by Fanny Ardant's court predator, he briefly finds himself a sensation in a world where honesty and wit are so rarely combined, only to find himself heading for a fall.
While it's a cut above the usual dry costume drama and passes the time more than pleasantly enough, it never quite escapes the feeling of a safe and predictable morality tale while at times the wit could be sharper and the venom more prominent. There are some fine moments and Ardant gets a great screen entrance, her servants blowing powder over her naked body, but at the end of the day it manages to be a curious mixture of both a mildly satisfying diversion and slightly less than the sum of its parts. Very much like the Court of Versailles itself...
Whereas Miramax's Region 1 DVD is barebones, Second Sight's UK PAL DVD boasts a fine 2.35:1 widescreen transfer as well as a very good 52-minute documentary on the making of the film.
Excellent and unusual costume drama
Review date: 2007-03-24 Rating: 8 out of 10
"Ridicule" combines a wickedly funny script, a superb cast and sumptuous period detail to deliver a fine example of French costume drama. The basic story concerns an earnest but impoverished nobleman from a remote province who travels to Versailles to seek the support of King Louis XVI in draining the disease-ridden swamps which are killing his peasants. This honest man quickly finds that the main way of gaining the King's ear is not the justice of his cause, but the sharpness of his verbal repartee in the vipers' nest of courtiers who control access to the monarch.
The English translator deserves honourable mention for conveying much of the flavour of the barbed wit at the corrupt court. An exact translation is of course impossible, especially in the nuances of humour, and reading subtitles further reduces the impact of the verbal jousting. But these handicaps hardly reduce the viewer's enjoyment of scenes such as the one where a very worldly young cleric is prepared to argue glibly either for or against the existence of God.
There are further pleasures in numerous period touches such as the dedicated teacher of the deaf whose pupils demonstrate sign language in front of the bored nobility. (Is this the earliest portrayal of sign language in film?) The teacher's devotion and the pupils' evident intelligence count for nothing in the eyes of this idle elite. When the teacher explains that two of his pupils are engaged, one horrified nobleman exclaims: "You defile the sacrament of holy matrimony, sir!" Evidently the disabled lack basic human rights, especially if they might propagate more of their kind.
Of course, we know that this regime is on the verge of being overthrown in the 1789 revolution.At the end of the film two of the characters are shown exiled in England after that cataclysm has destroyed their life at court.
The writer of "Ridicule" reportedly based his screenplay on original documents describing life at Versailles. You will certainly feel transported to another era for two hours, while not regretting its demise.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Jean Rochefort
Fanny Ardant
Charles Berling
Bernard Giraudeau
Judith Godreche
Creators:
Fanny Ardant (Primary Contributor)
Charles Berling (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Second Sight Films Ltd.
Manufacturer: Second Sight Films Ltd.
EAN: 5028836031123
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2007-01-29
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running time: 98 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1996
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Original Language)