Molière (2007)

Delve into the tantalizing mystery behind France's greatest dramatist in the witty, sumptuous and sophisticated romantic comedy Molière, yours to own and rent on DVD on 12th November 2007 from Pathé Distribution Limited.

A perfect tale of love, lust and laughter, Molière is a lavish comedy drama with a clever, sharp script in the period tradition of Shakespeare in Love. Directed by Laurent Tirard, the film also boasts an extraordinary cast including Romain Duris (The Beat My Heart Skipped) as Molière alongside Ludivine Sagnier (Swimming Pool, 8 Women), Laura Morante (The Son's Room), Fabrice Luchini (Le Bossu) and Edouard Baer (L'Appartement).

In 1644, the French playwright and actor Jean-Baptiste Poquelin - better known as Molière - was just twenty-two years old. Crippled with debt and hounded by the bailiffs, he persisted in staging undeniably bad tragedies. And then, one day, after having been imprisoned by his impatient creditors and released, he disappeared without a trace. This story attempts to explain the missing months of the great writer's life before his rise to fame.

Molière (Duris) is touring the French countryside with his travelling theatre company, and he's yet to be recognized as one of the continent's great authors (or achieve significant financial success). Molière is put in jail after skipping out on some unpaid debts, but is freed after his fine is paid by two strangers. Molière discovers his benefactors are acting on behalf of Jourdain (Luchini), a very wealthy man who has a beautiful wife, Elmire (Morante) and two lovely daughters.

However, Jourdain has fallen head over heels for Celimene (Sagnier), a gorgeous widow, and he's written a short play in order to demonstrate his feelings for her. Jourdain needs someone to help him polish his script and serve as an acting coach, and he's recruited Molière for the job. Needing the money, Moliere accepts, but he poses as a man of the cloth, Monsieur Tartuffe, to keep his identity a secret. Molière soon realizes that Jourdain's talent exists only in the rich man's imagination, and that Jourdain already has a rival for Celimene's affections, the charming but duplicitous Dorante (Baer).

Molière on DVD also includes a making-of featurette Dans les Coulissess De Moliere. A must-own visual pleasure for Francophiles, cultural and periodic Lovers - C'est Magnifique!

Please note - Disc special features are subject to change, may differ from format to format and/or may differ from region to region.