User Reviews

From a true story, you have here the tale of a pearl lost in a sea of mud. The mud of hypocrisy, lie and trickery. The tale of an eccentric and wealthy woman who is married to a rich business man who cheats her with a mistress. An eccentric lady played by the outstanding Catherine Frot who has only one dream in life: singing opera, recitals, not in front of wide audiences but circles of music lovers who fake to be her friends. Those "friends" who let her think she is a great singer whilst she sings totally FALSE. Here, the audience is also guilty to laugh at this poor naive woman. Me too laughed and I am ashamed of myself. It's a genuine sad, painful story, I assure you. Catherine Frot has never been better, she gives here a terrific performance. I also appreciated the black butler character whom we at first think of him that he is Frot's close friend and dedicated house keeper. But as the film continues it appears that his behaviour is rather weird, even disgusting. During all this powerful drama I thought of Mark Robson's THE HARDER THEY FALL; the only difference is that this old movie took place in the boxing business. But for the rest, it's the same scheme. Go to see this very good feature showing how a pure pearl got drowned into an ocean of mud. The human mud.

I wish i could follow French films without subtitles. Alas that is not one of my skills, yet i got so lost in this so very off beat period piece and it's magnificent central performance from a simply marvellous Catherine Frot, a superb talent unknown to me until now,that the subtitles somehow vanished from my consciousness.I will give nothing away except to say it is set and lavishly so among the idle rich of France immediately after the end of the great war which must of been a very bitter time after so much loss of life and limb for so little, and a time little covered by film makers. A very well made little film that rewards patience.

Very confusing. Not at all what I was expecting. And I'm left wondering now if this wasn't really all about the servant/photographer, orchestrating events that would yield great photographs.

I thought this was going to be about "art for art's sake". Then it seemed that it was about marital disc(h)ord. And finally, inclusion of Michael Nyman's "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds", from the soundtrack to "The Draughtsman's Contract", made me think that the servant/photographer (the "draughtsman") was actually the central character.

Very confusing.

From correspondence I've had over the years it seems that there are roughly a dozen people who tend to follow my reviews here and they will know in what high esteem I hold Catherine Frot, not least for her versatility which allows her to move effortlessly from the pathetically ditzy neglected wife in Un Air de famille to the mother from hell in Vipere au poing with virtually any and everything in between. Her first love is the stage - indeed she made her name in the stage version of Un Air of famille, which earned her a Moliere, plus a Cesar when she replicated her role, complete with dog collar, on celluloid - and for three years she has neglected the cinema for the theatre - I myself was lucky enough to see her in the Ingrid Bergman role in Cactus Flower (Fleur de cactus in French) barely a week ago, but now she is back on the screen in what I can only describe as a tour de force; Marguerite is a wealthy socialite in 1920s Paris who has an all consuming love for opera, so much so that she loves nothing better than performing arias for her society friends in salons. The problem, tragedy may not be too strong a word, is that she is totally without vocal talent yet for reasons best known to themselves her friends conspire to keep this knowledge from her and applaud every note and even pen fine reviews. Although the story is fiction - there may be a reason the character is named Marguerite Dumont; the actress Margaret Dumont, was the foil for Grouch Marx in the majority of the Marx Brothers films and was also a wealthy society lady with delusions of grandeur - it is clearly based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins a wealthy American who also harboured the delusion that she was a world-class diva. Catherine Frot is outstanding and it may well be the finest performance she has given in the cinema, which is, of course, saying something. For some reason it appears that Meryl Streep is shooting very much the same story even as I write and this may well keep the Frot film off American - and possibly even UK - screens which would be unforgivable.

Marguerite is inspired by the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a rich woman who loves so much opera she thinks she is a great soprano. And she sings in small salons or recital halls for a confidential audience, getting good articles in musical publications, written by friends of course.

Catherine Frot is the perfect actress to perform this naive and touching opera lover, unconscious of her lack of talent. She is just so natural that we have immediate sympathy for her. But not for her family circle who, in that weird situation, did not help her, especially her husband who deserts her and her butler who manipulates her "talent", everybody laughing around.

Some changes have been made from the true story : Florence is now Marguerite (maybe in reference at Marguerite Gautier? See the last part), and the end of her life was different. But it is a great vision of that pathetic situation.

There always have been art lovers who naively think they are genius, remember Ed Wood.

Just wait Stephen Frears version , with Meryl Streep in the role of Florence (whose other first name was Narcissa) ...

This is the dramatization/adaptation of what is a true story. The film rests mostly on some fantastic performances, mostly the one by Catherine Frot, in the leading role. Marguerite was a wealthy woman who believed she understood music and kept telling herself for the longest time she was a decent singer. People were against telling her because of their own reasons, from a husband who believed in protecting her for his own reasons, to members of her society who took advantage of her resources.

The film questions whether she really knew what was going on, or if she wanted to believe it so badly that she convinced herself she could sing. The audience has to pay careful attention to the development of the story and her reactions to the many people who come into her life. There is the critic who writes a pretty ambiguous review in order to say what he wants, without being direct. Later, he appears to change his mind as he gets to know her better.

In the background there is loyal servant who has designed a world of lies in order to prevent her more unnecessary suffering; however, we begin to wonder if all of this is really going to help or make things worse. Enter a teacher with a past, the possibility of her going on a stage and face the ultimate audience.

"Marguerite" is not exactly a crowd pleaser, and it's most likely to break a few hearts as we get to know the truth behind this woman's actions. There are moments full of inspiration as we see how the power of music can take us into another reality. The film doesn't shy away from showing all the sides. We see a heavenly performance by an upcoming singer, and it is there to show how truly atrocious is Catherine's singing. There are no doubts about that, yet there are questions about how love can distort perspectives, and how good intentions can lead to more terrible results. Is it possible that "Marguerite" is a love story?

'Marguerite' (2015), directed by Xavier Giannoli, is one of two films made less than a year apart based on the fascinating story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the wealthy American amateur soprano who became famous and ridiculous for her flamboyant stage costumes and vocal anti-talent. Her career in the social and bohemian circles of 1920s-40s New York raises many questions about by whom and how art is appreciated, about the connection between money and culture, about truth in art, in love and in life. Paradoxically, the cinema ignored the story until a few years ago, but when it came to it two films appeared within a year. I saw 'Florence Foster Jenkins', the American biopic directed by Stephen Frears in 2016 shortly after its release. A good movie, with Meryl Streep gorgeous as usual and Hugh Grant in maybe the best role of his career. It is only now, however, that I got to watching 'Marguerite'. If Frears' movie was good, Giannoli's is very good.

The screenplay written by Giannoli together with Marcia Romano moves the story to France in the years after the Great War. French bourgeois and aristocratic society tries to survive and continue its life of luxury after the war based on conservative patriotic values, but the whole system is put to the test by radical political and artistic movements. Now it's the start of 'les années folles' with a lifestyle as if there was no tomorrow and with the Dadaist and avant-garde artistic challenges. Marguerite Dumont (the name is borrowed from the Marx Brothers films) is a rich aristocrat who is in love with her husband (who cheats on her) and with music. She sponsors musical evenings with the noble purpose of raising donations for war invalids. The problem is that her passion for music is not limited to listening and to organizing private evenings, but extends to vocal recitals where she sings. And she is awfully strident and completely out of tune. When she sings, children hide under the tables, her husband simulates mechanical problems with his car to avoid listening to her and those present laugh discreetly and applaud frantically at the end. Do they want to take advantage of her money? Do they want to manage her and dare not tell her the truth? Probably both. A group of young anarchist artists publishes an enthusiastic critique (after all, Marguerite is both original and passionate about what she does). A disastrous performance of the Marseillese ends with exclusion from aristocratic circles, but the desire to give a recital with a real audience increases. The wall of lies around her continues to protect her, even encourage her. Her devoted butler and her repentant husband support her. A famous opera singer past his peak of glory is hired to train her, after being blackmailed into silence. The public recital takes place. The ending is different than the one in the heroine's life and in the American biopic, but it is not a happy one here either.

The French perspective of Marguerite' allows the authors to introduce elements that do not exist in the American version, which is more faithful to Florence's biography. The eccentric atmosphere of the 'crazy years', excellently recreated in the film, means that Marguerite's musical anti-talent can be framed as one of the many artistic defiances launched in that avant-garde period, from Dadaist automatic dictation to Marcel's 'Fountain' Duchamp. Xavier Giannoli's treatment of his heroine is harsher than Stephen Frears' treatment of Florence in his film. Marguerite's confrontation with the truth is almost violent. Questions about the relativity of truth and the need to position it as an absolute value remain open. Catherine Frot makes in this film the best role of her career. Her Marguerite is passionate, sensitive, naive, in love. Michel Fau is formidable as the singer and singing teacher Atos Pezzini, while Denis Mpunga also creates a memorable role as the devoted butler Madelbos. The entire production has style and quality. 'Marguerite' is a cinema experience not to be missed, a beautiful and interesting film, a refined interpretation of the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, which keeps us thinking after the end of the viewing about the questions it asks about art and truth.