Ridicule (1996)
(In French, On TV, July 2019) I’m so used to watching English aristocracy comedies of manners than watching a French aristocracy comedy of manners is a change of pace. In Ridicule, there are two premises at play: The first being that of an 18th century French lord, heading to Versailles to convince the court to approve an expensive project to drain his disease-ridden swamps. The second is that of a royal court where battles of wit have very real consequences in terms of influence and royal access. Thus our valorous hero (Charles Berling, solid) being asked to deliver one bon mot after another in an attempt to raise his social profile and get the approval he craves. To complicate things, there’s also a romance with a brainy young girl (Judith Godrèche, quite good) betrothed to an older man, and even further complications when an experienced woman (Fanny Ardent, magnificent) joins the fray. The good news here is that for a film based on verbal wit, Ridicule’s script is exceptionally good—all in impeccably formal French. It’s a pleasure to listen to, even if the story voluntarily turns itself in a dead-end as a conclusion. There’s a lot packed in the epilogue, as we are left to ponder how the French Revolution took care of that hypocritical backstabbing court while our ridiculed and humbled protagonists manage to avoid the reckoning by retreating on their own terms. Still, the period detail is fascinating (eek, bleeding) and the unusual quality of the dialogues makes it all worthwhile.