Ridicule (1996)
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1996 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
When I got my invitation to come to the press screening of RIDICULE, I had heard nothing about the film. I immediately assumed I was off to another dumb college flick like the disaster GLORY DAZE. I had the image of a bunch of Neanderthal youngsters insulting each other with bathroom humor. How wrong I was.
RIDICULE is a French satire and costume drama set in the late eighteenth century in last days of French monarchy before the revolution. It is a fairly inaccessible film, but ultimately a rewarding one. Once you realize the obtuse story is inconsequential and that the film is strictly a comedy of manners, you can relax and enjoy its subtleties. It is a beautifully filmed show (Thierry Arbogast) that is easy on the eyes.
The movie opens with a truly shocking scene that includes male frontal nudity. It is not the nudity itself that is shocking, but what happens. Curiously enough, the movie could probably get a PG or PG-13 rating without this scene, but with it in, it is certainly destined for an R if the producers end up submitting it to the MPAA for a rating. At the time of the press screening, it appeared to be as yet unrated.
After this surprising scene, the opening credits begin to roll and the audience is already shocked and confused. The confusion stays, but the shock subsides.
The show has a simple story, but it is presented with enough subplots and characters to leave the audience baffled for quite some time. As I said earlier, ignore this and wait for the heart of the picture when the show becomes a condemnation of and a ridicule of the aristocracy's obsession with ridicule as a form of witty conversation. The show even concludes with a lavish and totally ridiculous costume ball where the gowns ridicule their wearers. The title RIDICULE has many meanings and nuance in the show.
The plot is that Gregoire Ponceludon de Malavoy (Charles Berling - the couch potato husband from this year's excellent NELLY & MONSIEUR ARNAUD) goes from his country home to Versailles. He makes the journey so he can get an audience with King Louis XVI (Urbain Cancelier) to ask for funds for a drainage project for some fever infested swamps. To see the King he has to get in the good graces of the others at court, and to do that he has to prove his wit. Wit during that period consisted entirely of cleverly worded put-downs, i. e., ridicule.
When Ponceludon enters the hallowed halls of the court, Abbe de Vilecourt (Bernard Giraudeau) greets him with, "fresh from the country, you must find our courtly ways ridiculous." The dialog by screenwriter Remi Waterhouse is masterful. Ponceludon attempts his mockery of Vilecourt by retorting, "peasants feed aristocrats as well as mosquitoes."
He gets a mentor at the court, Monsieur Bellegarde (Jean Rochefort). Bellegarde likes the young man, proclaiming of him, "honesty and wit are so rarely combined." Bellegarde has a beautiful daughter Mathilde (Judith Godreche) who is about to enter into a marriage of convenience with a rich old man, Monsieur Montalieri (Bernard Dheran), so she can use the income from the marriage to finance her scientific experiments. This is one of many unnecessary complications in the plot. Attempt to ignore it.
Bellegarde guides his young pupil in the fine art of disparagement warning him, don't laugh at your own jokes and "don't laugh with your mouth open. It's too rustic."
Fanny Ardant (from 1994's great COLONEL CHABERT) appears as Countess Madame de Blayac. She is one of the mistresses of the King and known to be the best conduit for gaining the ear of the King.
When Ponceludon finally gets to see the King, the King is with a Sioux warrior when perplexities the nobility. Vilecourt disgustedly reflects that the warrior is "half naked and with the name of Stinking Bear, and he almost makes us look ridiculous" for standing around to greet him. When later the courtiers cast aspersion based on association, Ponceludon reminds them that "Judas kept excellent company."
The acting is remote and frequently too shallow. Perhaps one could argue that it is a good match for the characters, but I found the effect of the direction by Patrice Leconte to lack involvement. The characters are unsympathetic, and although I found their repartee intriguing, I did not care about any of the characters as real humans.
RIDICULE has three unusual scenes of special merit that are worth mentioning. I do not think I have ever heard the sound of a pistol in slow motion as effectively done as in RIDICULE. It has a power that overwhelms that of a normal explosion. Second, the close-up of a knee rubbing that focused on the goose bumps produced on the woman's skin is one of the most erotic scenes I have witnessed this year. Finally, if you ever wondered how the female aristocracy got on all of that pancake make-up back then, this show reveals the secret.
RIDICULE runs 1:42. It is in French with English subtitles. It was not yet rated when I saw it, but it would be an R for the one male nude scene. There is very brief female nudity, a little violence, mild language, and no sex. The show would be fine for any teenager, but the opening is too strong for younger kids. Although I found it needlessly confusing, ridicule as an art form was fascinating so I do give the film a thumbs up and award it ** 1/2.
**** = One of the top few films of this or any year. A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = One of the worst films of this or any year. Totally unbearable.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: October 7, 1996
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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