Ridicule (1996) - Patrice Leconte
Related: derision - humor - humiliation - mockery - terms of abuse
Ridicule (1996) - Patrice Leconte
[Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]Patrice Leconte's Ridicule is a 1996 French film set in the 18th-century at the decaying court of Versailles. The film depicts a world where wit and the art of ridicule was how citizens gained the privilege of begging King Louis XVI to do something about even the most fundamental needs of the citizens. --[1]
Definition
Ridicule, the act of ridiculing someone or an organisation, is indicating by means of laughter or irony the opinion that the ideas or behavior of the other are ridiculous, i.e. far from normal and sensible, and are therefore rejected. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridicule [2004]
Derision; mocking or humiliating words or behaviour. --Wiktionary
Ridicule (1996) - Patrice Leconte
Dave Kehr review
In Patrice Leconte's cool, precise moral comedy Ridicule, the corrupt, sycophantic court of King Louis XVI is invaded by a provincial nobleman, Ponceludon de Malavoy (Charles Berling), who with the help of his own sharp tongue, the coaching of the retired courtier Marquis de Bellegarde (Jean Rochefort), and the love of the Marquis's beautiful, nature-loving daughter (Judith Godrèche) hopes to win funds for his project to drain the fever-infested swamps of his homeland. But first he has to get by the cunning, sexually manipulative Madame de Blayac (Fanny Ardant, imperious and superb) and her waspish, priestly ally, the Abbot de Vilecourt (Bernard Giraudeau). As shaped by screenwriter Rémi Waterhouse, Ridicule is a kind of dashing verbal swashbuckler in which duels aren't fought with swords, but with the equally fatal weapon of words--rapier wit in its most literal sense. Laconte directs with an appealing elegance and a scathing sobriety as he unfolds a fable that could just as easily take place in a Wall Street boardroom, a Park Avenue executive suite, or a Hollywood commissary. --Dave Kehr for amazon.com
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