Moliere

Aroview: Jaunty period rom-com in the spirit of SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE speculates on the creative catalysts for the comic masterpieces of famed French playwright and actor Moliere.

Saved from the slammer by a wealthy dilettante (Luchini) who hires him to ghost-write a play for a secretly admired high-society widow, the supposedly deigned-to-dabble Moliere (Duris) ends up observing all sorts of satire-friendly shenanigans and falling for his boss’s beautiful but neglected wife (Morante). Served up with a touch of farce, this lavishly costumed life-feeds-art lark comes peppered with theatrical in-jokes, but mainly serves as an engaging entry point into the mind of an exceptionally sharp wit, and is augmented by a superior cast of supporting players, not least of all Machiavellian scene-stealer Edouard Baer.