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Ridicule |
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Ridicule is Leconte's first period piece but, historically speaking, marks his second appearance in competition at Cannes. In 1989 he fielded the psychological thriller Monsieur Hire, starring Michel Blanc as the fastidious recluse accused of murder, which delighted audiences with its cat-and-mouse screenplay, erotic tension and off-beat camera work and editing.
In Ridicule, Leconte sets the action in Versailles at the end of the 17th century, during the reign of Louis XVI. Sedition and revolution are on the horizon, but the king's court goes serenely about its business. The film focuses on the dynamics of power, court intrigues and the attempts to curry favour with the king. In the royal court's complacent atmosphere, astute and calculating men can easily climb to the pinnacle of power.
Intelligence and spirit are more valuable commodities than high birth or money.
Charles Berling portrays one of the central characters, Grégoire Ponceludon de Malavoy, who belongs to an ancient and noble family, although their star has waned. Shrewd, he relies on his intelligence to make his way in the world and get ahead in court circles, by taking advantage of the need for fresh blood at the tables and salons of high society. However, the young and ambitious courtier has two handicaps: he wants to help other people and falls in love too easily. These amount to serious flaws at a time when social ridicule can not only lead to ostracism but even end in death.
Talking about the film, Leconte speaks with Flaubertian gusto: "Ponceludon, I am he. I was a country boy who came to Paris to make films without knowing or understanding the etiquette and rules of filmmaking "
A 'Candide-type' hero, Berling takes on his first major screen role since Pascale Ferran's Petits arrangements avec les morts which won the Caméra d'Or in 1994. An experienced thespian, Berling plays opposite Fanny Ardant (appearing on French screens at the moment in Désiré and Pédale douce) who is La Comtesse de Blayac, a dangerous courtesan with a thirst for conspiracy. Leconte-favourite Jean Rochefort, who gave a sterling performance as the arab music-loving obsessive in Le mari de la coiffeuse (The Hairdresser's Husband) as well as starring in Tango, Tandem and Le parfum d'Yvonne, is Le Marquis de Bellegarde, with director/star of Les caprices d'un fleuve Bernard Giraudeau as the court priest, L'Abbé de Vilecourt, rounding out the main cast.
Remi Waterhouse adapted Ridicule for the screen from his novel of the same name. "The idea originally occurred to me some years ago when I was reading the memoires of La Comtesse de Boigne. She was writing about a man who came home, driven to desperation because he had become a figure of ridicule. As a result, he kills himself, and the anecdote made a deep impression on me," he remembers.
For Leconte, Ridicule was never intended to be historically accurate. "Some things never change down the ages; one of them is human nature," he says. "That's what I'm most interested in when I'm making films."
Ridicule is produced by Epithète's Gilles Legrand and Frédéric Brillon - with Cinéa's Philippe Carcassonne co-producing - for FFr46.5 million (US$8.9 million). Epithète was the young production company behind Philippe Lioret's Tombés du ciel which starred Rochefort, while Carcassonne produced Leconte's Tandem over a decade ago. France 3 and an advance on receipts helped to round out the budget, with Poly-Gram Film Distribution investing a large and unusual minimum guarantee of Ffr 15 million (US$2.9 million), which suggests a singular confidence in the film's theatrical potential.Ridicule will be rolled out on French screens on 9 May to take advantage of the publicity surrounding its selection as the opening film in competition.
Valérie Ganne
Prod Co: Epithète, Cinéa, France 3 Cinéma
Prod: Gilles Legrand, Frédéric Brillion, Philippe Carcassonne
Dir: Patrice Leconte
Scr: Remi Waterhouse
Ph: Thierry Arbogast
Prod des: Ivan Maussion
Cos: Christian Gasc
Mus: Antoine Duhamel
Ed: Joëlle Hache
Cast: Fanny Ardant, Charles Berling, Bernard Giraudeau, Judith Godreche, Jean Rochefort
Running time: 102 mins
Int sales: PolyGram Film International
