Cycling with Molière (2014)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

From my favorite movies..

Crappy film

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

OK, Francophiles will boo me, but this oh so slow moving movie left me waiting, not so patiently for it to end. I hoped when one of the two actors mentioned another play, "Othello," apparently because the woman in the movie led to tension between them, that maybe there would be a little murder to end the boredom, hopefully of one of the actors, but no. Slow French movies are of two types, good and not-so good. This film belongs to the latter category. Even one brief TV role of one of the actors wasn't any better than the mother movie; nor a second play within the play where they act Moliere's play did not take off the ground. The two actors in the movie just didn't seem to me to be very good actors. Maybe with "Tartuffe" next time they will do better. The English are better at this kind of thing. and they have Shakespeare to work against.

Perhaps it's because I am an actor myself with a great love for Moliere, but this gem of a film delighted. The unique Fabrice Luchini is Serge Tanneur, a once renowned actor living in self- imposed retirement in an old inherited house on the Ile de Re'. The living, breathing Alceste of The Misanthrope, he rails against life, the plumbing in his crumbling house, and spends his time cycling along the sea front. Gaulthier Valence, a famous actor, "Dr. Morange" in a TV series in which he plays a brain surgeon who can operate during a hurricane while melting the hearts of French women everywhere, is producing Moliere's Misanthrope so he can play Alceste. he travels to see Tanneur to convince him to return to the stage to play a supporting role. But Tanneur has been working on the role of Alceste for 30 years and isn't about to play a lesser part. And he doesn't want to act anymore anyway. Instead, he wants to rehearse for four days with Valence to gauge whether or not he wants to come back. They flip a coin each day to see who will play who.The relationship between the two is the crux of the story. Mercurial, intense, frustrating, loving, cruel, all the ingredients of Moliere's great play with two very fine actors. I have rarely seen the inner life of actors so revealed. Maya Sansa plays an Italian woman of some mystery who adds a touch of romance. It all ends just the way it would. Exceptional film from Philippe Le Guay.

French director Philippe Le Guay's Alceste à Bicyclette / Bicycling with Molière is based on actor Fabrice Luchini's original idea. The film is all about actors, their homes, moods, relationships and worlds. The scenario is written in such a manner that this film is also able to discuss the concepts of "good actor" versus "bad actor". They make viewers discover that all actors are absolutely conscious of their image. There is one major thing which all viewers can easily identify in the film. It is related to some actors and their essential need of personal space especially due to their being popular on television. Apart from actors and acting, Bicycling with Molière throws light on how the presence of a woman impacts male bonding. In many ways, it can be construed as this film's minor yet useful subplot. It gains considerable weight due to the benign presence of Italian actress Maya Sensa. Any discussion about this film would not make much sense unless the importance of actor Fabrice Luchini in French cinema is discussed. He has become an important personality of French cultural life. Apart from films, he is seen on TV talk shows reading excerpts from literary as well as philosophical works. He is the best reason to watch this film as good/poor actor Fabrice Luchini takes his revenge on bad/rich actor Lambert Wilson. Before concluding it can be said that actors riding bicycles is a good sign of people in show business coming out of their comfort zones. This statement is as close in reality as stating that in the field of acting there are no friends as nobody would like to miss the opportunity of playing an important role.

Even if you've never read a word of Moliere or seen even one minute of one of his plays you should still derive a lot of enjoyment out of this gem. Lambert Wilson and Fabrice Luchini have both appeared in French films that played outside France yet remain little known abroad whereas in France they are household names and deservedly so. The premise of the film is that a once successful actor (Luchini) has retired from the theatre, retreated to the country and has himself, ironically, become more a less a misanthrope. A second actor (Wilson) enjoying nationwide fame on the strength of his playing the eponymous role in a television drama, is anxious to return to his theatrical roots via a revival of Moliere's classic play The Misanthrope. Earmarking the lead role of Alceste for himself he travels to Rochelle to try to persuade Luchini to return to the stage and co-star with him is Philente. The bulk of the film is the marvellous interplay between two great actors at the top of their game actually rehearsing the play tentatively and alternating the two lead roles. It is nothing short of a feast of superb acting and is one to be savoured.