Georges Feydeau, a French playwright, was a master of the genre. The style required skilled performers that were nimble enough to act at the usually frantic pace his theater pieces required. The farce is more akin to vaudeville than to serious theater. There were always doors, opening, and closing, to reveal, or conceal what was happening on stage. Feydeau's plays are picaresque in nature since most of what he wrote about had a naughty undercurrent going on.
Michel Deville, the director of this French comedy, working with the screenplay by his wife, Rosalinde, probably thought the idea of updating a genre that is seldom seen these days, would improve on the master's text. The results are mixed. It is silly to incorporate in a period piece such as this, modern objects that do not belong there. What he got was a somewhat mildly funny comedy and good performances by the cast he assembled for the film.
Emmanuel Beart plays Lucette, a famous singer. She is the object of affection for men that see in her a sexual creature of desire. Ms. Beart, a beautiful woman, does well as the intelligent woman at the center of the action. Charles Berling, bares it all at the end of the story in a hilarious romp where he is seen naked in his own home. Patrick Timsit, a comic actor, has done better before. Dominique Blanc has some good moments as the Baronne Duberger. Sarah Forestier, Julie Depardieu, and Jacques Bonnaffe are seen in supporting roles.
Michel Deville, the director of this French comedy, working with the screenplay by his wife, Rosalinde, probably thought the idea of updating a genre that is seldom seen these days, would improve on the master's text. The results are mixed. It is silly to incorporate in a period piece such as this, modern objects that do not belong there. What he got was a somewhat mildly funny comedy and good performances by the cast he assembled for the film.
Emmanuel Beart plays Lucette, a famous singer. She is the object of affection for men that see in her a sexual creature of desire. Ms. Beart, a beautiful woman, does well as the intelligent woman at the center of the action. Charles Berling, bares it all at the end of the story in a hilarious romp where he is seen naked in his own home. Patrick Timsit, a comic actor, has done better before. Dominique Blanc has some good moments as the Baronne Duberger. Sarah Forestier, Julie Depardieu, and Jacques Bonnaffe are seen in supporting roles.