ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997 TAG: 9704210117
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED THE ROANOKE TIMES
"Ridicule" is a sort of "Dangerous Liaisons" with a French satirical twist set in the court of Louis XVI.
At the court of Louis XVI, "vices are without consequence, but ridicule can kill."
Unless one bears another sword sharper than wit - and that is purpose honed by sincerity.
These are the weapons of a titled engineer from La Dombes in southwestern France, the kind-hearted Gregoire Ponceludon in Patrice Leconte's "Ridicule," a very witty, satirical costume drama set in Versailles, 1783.
Gregoire (Charles Berling) is a suitor for the attention of the king. What Gregoire really wants is a grant to drain the disease-infested swamps of La Dombes, which claim the lives of most of the peasants who work the land. He has a plan for doing so, but no real clue about how to navigate through the far more noxious waters of the court.
Until he meets the gentle Marquis de Bellegarde (Jean Rochefort of "The Hairdresser's Husband"), who teaches him in the ways of wit to help Gregoire along the path to gaining the king's ear. The marquis has made such a precise study of the verbal parry and thrust that he keeps a little notebook with his favorite examples of word play, repartee and quip. Puns are poison.
Gregoire has, much to everyone's surprise, including his own, a knack for the clever comeback that gets him closer and closer to his objective, but earns him some formidable foes, including the viperous L'abbe de Vilecourt (Bernard Giraudeau) and Madame de Blayac (Fanny Ardant).
Meanwhile, Gregoire is falling in love with the wonderful, but betrothed, Mathilde de Bellegarde (Judith Godreche), who spends most of her spare time underwater testing out what must be one of the very earliest scuba suits.
"She was raised in the era of Rousseau," her father explains. "I denied her nothing."
How do Gregoire and Mathilde avoid a watery grave - his the poison swamp of the court and her a marriage of convenience to a very old, very wealthy man?
No fair to tell, but it sure is a kick that it happens in a room full of stupid court people all wearing what appears to be swollen brain matter on their heads - ridiculously large, powdered gray wigs, Leconte's perfect symbol for the imbalance in these mutated creatures.
It's a "Dangerous Liaisons" kind of thing - with a good bit more humor. And although it probably takes a true Francophile to really appreciate the satire, "Ridicule" gets right down to the absurdity of the court. Makes you wish there had been a nice, neat French equivalent for: "Get a life!"
Ridicule ***1/2
A Polygram release playing at the Grandin Theatre. R for brief, explicit male nudity and adult situations. 103 minutes.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Judith Godreche stars in Patrice Leconte's "Ridicule"by CNBcolor