Beaumarchais - The Insolent
Beaumarchais - The Outrageous (original title: Beaumarchais, l'insolent ) is a French period film from 1996 with Fabrice Luchini in the role of the French writer Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799). A play by Sacha Guitry served as a template .
action
France in 1773: Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais , the son of a watchmaker, rose to the highest ranks through marriage. He is a lawyer, businessman, womanizer and poet. A young man named Paul-Philippe Gudin appears at the rehearsals for his latest play Le Barbier de Séville , who, on the recommendation of Voltaire , with whom Beaumarchais is in correspondence, is to enter the author's service. Beaumarchais sends Gudin to his lover, the actress Marion Ménard, to whom he is supposed to recite a poem. Half-naked, she opens the door to her cloakroom and lets him in. The Duc de Chaulnes jealously storms into the room and threatens to kill Beaumarchais. At Marion's request, Gudin warns the poet about de Chaulnes, whereupon Beaumarchais appoints him as his secretary and biographer. In a courtroom, however, there is a duel between Beaumarchais and de Chaulnes. When Beaumarchais threatens to lose the duel, several soldiers appear who arrest him on the king's orders.
In court, Beaumarchais is accused by the Comte de la Blache of being a fraudster and of having disputed an inheritance that de la Blache is now claiming back. Beaumarchais knows how to defend himself skilfully and uses the process as a platform to publicly accuse parliament of corruption, but he cannot escape conviction. Parts of his property are subsequently confiscated and he is relieved of his public office. Back at his residence one evening, a young woman named Marie-Thérèse, whom he had met earlier, visits him. She fell in love with him and wanted to marry him. Meanwhile, the Prince de Conti and the politician Antoine de Sartine ensure that Beaumarchais has an audience with King Louis XV. receives. In exchange for regaining his privileges, the latter offers him to join his majesty's service as a secret agent. In England he is said to have received a card from the Chevalier d'Eon with which France wants to initiate an invasion of England.
With Marie-Thérèse, with whom he is now married, Beaumarchais travels to England under the code name Ronac, where his friend Lord Rochford introduces him to the Chevalier d'Eon at a ball. Through d'Eon he also met the American Arthur Lee, who was fighting for America's independence. Beaumarchais, who has always had sympathy for the common people, offers Lee his support. At a meeting in a port, they are picked up by English soldiers. Lee manages to escape with a brave jump into a river. Beaumarchais, on the other hand, decided not to evade arrest by the soldiers. He is building on the protection of Louis XV, who has just passed away. Beaumarchais ends up in prison again. While in captivity, he takes the opportunity to revise his barber . In addition, he succeeds in publishing a pamphlet with which he is about Louis XVI. , the new king of France. Lord Rochford finally ensures that he is released from custody, whereupon Beaumarchais returns to France with Marie-Thérèse. There, his revised barber is rejected by the audience, which is why Gudin advises him to stick to the original version. After Gudin has rewritten the piece, it becomes a great success.
With the intention of supporting the American rebels in the War of Independence , Beaumarchais obtained an audience with Louis XVI, who eventually gave him permission to smuggle weapons into America. He founded a trading company under the name Rodrigue Hortales, which soon went bankrupt because he did not receive any goods from America for his ships loaded with weapons. Benjamin Franklin finally presented him with a letter of thanks from the American Congress, which he owed deeply. Prince de Conti, whom Beaumarchais had promised to write a sequel to the barber , is meanwhile dying. After his death, Beaumarchais threw himself into work and wrote The Marriage of Figaro . Marie-Thérèse, who until now had tacitly tolerated his love affairs, is deeply saddened that he spends his nights outside of the house for rehearsals, believing Beaumarchais is now seriously interested in someone else. Gudin assures her that this is not the case and lies down in bed with her to scare Beaumarchais when he returns that morning. After his Figaro was approved by the royal censors, a first acclaimed performance takes place. Louis XVI however, he is angry about the free-thinking ideas that Beaumarchais put into the mouth of the protagonist in his play, and has the poet thrown into prison. After several months in prison, Louis XVI wants him. release again. Beaumarchais only wants to leave his cell on the condition that his Figaro is performed again. Louis XVI finally gets involved.
background
The shooting took place from July 24th to October 16th, 1995. The film was shot at Versailles Palace , Chantilly Palace , Gloucester , England , the Salle Haute des Chambre de Commerce in La Rochelle , the Théâtre de la Coupe d'Or in Rochefort and Bordeaux , where the Cour d'appel and the Grand Théâtre are used as locations served. The budget was the equivalent of 14.5 million euros. The film structures were designed by Jean-Marc Kerdelhue , the costumes by Sylvie de Segonzac .
Beaumarchais premiered on March 20, 1996 in France, where the film drew more than 1.9 million viewers to cinemas. It started in German cinemas on November 7, 1996. The production grossed more than $ 23 million worldwide.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films praised “the precise drawing of the superbly interpreted main character”, which reveals the “subversiveness and timelessness of the original” behind the polished dialogues. The film is "[e] elegantly staged, superbly photographed and musically convincing". In short, the viewer is offered “high-quality entertainment”. According to Der Spiegel , “this light-footed, colorful cinema costume piece” by Édouard Molinaro is by and large “a picture sheet that would cut a fine figure as the focus of an Arte themed evening”.
For the film critic James Berardinelli , Beaumarchais - The Outrageous was an "impeccably played costume drama". What the film does best is to convey the time in which it is set without appearing sedate. It is as light as Ridicule - On the ridiculousness of appearances and Marquise - Dangerous intrigue , but without being insubstantial. All in all it is “not a great film” because it sometimes seems incoherent and aimless, but it is “entertaining”, especially for those who appreciate the costume drama as “one of the most famous products of French filmmakers”.
TimeOut London spoke of "solid camera work and equipment". Luchini played Beaumarchais with "an exquisite, honey-sweet touch of arrogance and irony". In the course of the plot, however, the film meanders to itself and "quickly becomes a series of decent, undifferentiated historical images".
Awards
At the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival , the film was nominated for the Crystal Globe in 1996. In 1997 it was awarded a prize by the National Board of Review as one of the best foreign films. In the Cesar Awards in 1997 was Fabrice Luchini as a Best Actor nomination. However, like Daniel Auteuil , Charles Berling and Patrick Timsit , he succumbed to Philippe Torreton's performance in Captain Conan and the Wolves of War . There were two more César nominations for Beaumarchais - The Outrageous in the categories Best Costumes (Sylvie de Segonzac) and Best Production Design (Jean-Marc Kerdelhue). In 1998 Sylvie de Segonzac was also nominated for the Satellite Award for her costumes .
German version
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Beaumarchais | Fabrice Luchini | Michael Schwarzmaier |
| Marie-Thérèse Willermaulaz | Sandrine Kiberlain | Katrin Fröhlich |
| Louis XV | Michel Serrault | Peter Fitz |
| Duc de Chaulnes | Jacques Weber | Dirk Galuba |
| Prince de Conti | Michel Piccoli | Gert Günther Hoffmann |
| Chevalier d'Eon | Claire Nebout | Sandra Schwittau |
| Antoine de Sartine | Jean-François Balmer | Reinhard Brock |
| Marion Ménard | Florence Thomassin | Anna Grisebach |
| Abbé | Jean-Claude Brialy | Ulf Jürgen Söhmisch |
| Figaro | José Garcia | Walter von Hauff |
| Baron de Breteuil | Michel Aumont | Jochen Striebeck |
| Marie Antoinette | Judith Godrèche | Christine Stichler |
| Louis Goëzman | Jean Yanne | Norbert Gastell |
| Cézaire | Maka Kotto | Thomas Albus |
| Charles Théveneau de Morande | Roland Blanche | Hans-Rainer Müller |
Web links
- Beaumarchais - the Scoundrel in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Beaumarchais - the Scoundrel at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c cf. jpbox-office.com
- ↑ Beaumarchais - The Insolent. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 8, 2019 .
- ↑ Beaumarchais the Insolent . In: Der Spiegel , November 4, 1996.
- ↑ “An impeccably-acted costume drama. [...] What Beaumarchais, The Scoundrel does best is to convey a sense of the era in which it transpires without drowning the audience in the ponderousness that often accompanies period pieces. Beaumarchais is very much a light film, like last year's Ridicule or the as-yet-undistributed Marquise, yet it is not without substance. [...] This isn't a great film - it is occasionally disjointed and lacks an ambitious scope - but it is entertaining, especially for those who have an appreciation for one of the best-known products of French film makers: the costume drama. ” James Berardinelli : Beaumarchais, The Scoundrel on reelviews.net
- ↑ “The bustling crowds, the lively word play, the solid camera work and designs, and the overall theatricality bode well. As the episodic narrative proceeds, however, […] the film meanders and rapidly becomes a series of decorous, undifferentiated historical tableaux […]. That said, Luchini gives Beaumarchais an exquisite, mellifluous air of arrogance and irony. " See Beaumarchais on timeout.com
- ↑ Beaumarchais - The Insolent. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous index , accessed on December 8, 2019 .