In France ,every Moliere lover remembers the sixties MTV version featuring Michel Piccoli's memorable performance .The "modern" ending which broke with Molière's "hullabaloo" did not satisfy everybody though.Jacques Weber's ending is even more disturbing: Don Juan's screams turn into a whisper ;ditto for Sganarelle's last monologue ("Mes Gages!Mes Gages" ) : Michel Boujenah is begging near a church and he too murmurs .
Don Juan 1998 has a very low rating which is,IMHO,totally irrelevant.Unlike most of Molière's best plays,this one was perfectly suited to a cinematographic treatment since the action takes place by the sea,in a forest ...Weber's screenplay follows the play with some differences: Don Juan and Sganarelle are accompanied by a servant (?)whose role is completely pointless;the scene when Don Juan asks a poor man to swear if he wants a coin is not included. Don Juan and Sganarelle travel across a desolate Spain, in a world in ruin but which has forgotten it's in ruin.Don Juan's privileged vice,hypocrisy,makes him a rebel in a society where the higher clergy and the nobles rule ,thus not a totally negative character.An atheist whose biggest belief is that two and two is four.
The statue of the Commendatore (reduced to a large head ,plus a big hand in the final scene) on a boat at night displays Fellini's influence,particularly (what a coincidence!) "Fellini-Casanova"
An user wrote that Emmanuelle Béart was wasted: the part of Elvira consists of two or three scenes anyway.Béart is beautiful but I found her diction unsatisfying :she speaks too quickly,swallowing her words.
Don Juan 1998 has a very low rating which is,IMHO,totally irrelevant.Unlike most of Molière's best plays,this one was perfectly suited to a cinematographic treatment since the action takes place by the sea,in a forest ...Weber's screenplay follows the play with some differences: Don Juan and Sganarelle are accompanied by a servant (?)whose role is completely pointless;the scene when Don Juan asks a poor man to swear if he wants a coin is not included. Don Juan and Sganarelle travel across a desolate Spain, in a world in ruin but which has forgotten it's in ruin.Don Juan's privileged vice,hypocrisy,makes him a rebel in a society where the higher clergy and the nobles rule ,thus not a totally negative character.An atheist whose biggest belief is that two and two is four.
The statue of the Commendatore (reduced to a large head ,plus a big hand in the final scene) on a boat at night displays Fellini's influence,particularly (what a coincidence!) "Fellini-Casanova"
An user wrote that Emmanuelle Béart was wasted: the part of Elvira consists of two or three scenes anyway.Béart is beautiful but I found her diction unsatisfying :she speaks too quickly,swallowing her words.