Beaumarchais, L'insolent

Fabrice Luchini (Paris) plays Beaumarchais, a playwright and adventurer whose life is made up of a string of romantic encounters and escapades in 18th century France, in Edouard Molinaro’s comedy.

Following the life story of playwright and adventurer Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais played by the fabulous Fabrice Luchini, this film is a period romp set in 18^th Century France. Director Edouard Molinaro, noted for his classic film La Cage aux Folles (1978) which was remade in 1996 with Robin Williams (The Birdcage).

Beaumarchais L'insolent translates as Beaumarchais the scoundrel and explores the life of the rogue playwright most famous for The Barber of Seville and its sequel The Marriage of Figaro. His complex character encounters many tricky situations including a duel with an angry husbaund, battling the corrupt French government and a serious long-term affair with Marie-Thérès de Willer who later became his third wife.

King Louis XV assigns Beaumarchais a secret mission in London where he must retrience a document from transvestite aristocrat Chevalier D'Eon. His entanglement with American rebels lands him in jail which leads to his bankruptcy and more drama.

Fabrice Luchini steals the show creating a memorable character portrayal as a revolutionary fighting with a half-smile and out playing the corrupted. Brave without bravado we see a flawed man who arguably empowered the new world to overturn the old aristocracies and assert the rights of man.

Splendid visuals both interior and exterior this film captures the spirit of France and you need not speak French or know French history in this detail to appreciate this film. Molinaro cites his interest in making the film as being down to ‘the unbelievable modernity of the character'. A charming film.