Marquise is a 1997 French dramatic film directed by Véra Belmont

Véra Belmont

Véra Belmont is a French film producer, director and screenwriter. She has produced over 40 films since 1960. Her 1985 film Red Kiss was entered into the 36th Berlin International Film Festival, where Charlotte Valandrey won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.-Selected filmography:* The Cop * Quest...

, and starring Sophie Marceau

Sophie Marceau

Sophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...

, Bernard Giraudeau

Bernard Giraudeau

Bernard Giraudeau was a French actor, film director, scriptwriter, producer and writer.-Life:Giraudeau was born in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime. In 1963 he enlisted in the French navy as a trainee engineer, qualifying as the first in his class a year later...

, and Lambert Wilson

Lambert Wilson

Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...

. The film is set in seventeenth century France and includes several historical figures, such as Moliere

Molière

Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...

, Racine

Jean Racine

Jean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...

, and King Louis XIV.

Plot

While four actresses from Moliere's itinerant theatrical troupe set off looking for a latrine, Moliere (Bernard Giraudeau) and his best friend Gros-Rene (Patrick Timsit) discover Marquise (Sophie Marceau) dancing before an eager crowd of men. Her movements are provocative, and are heightened by a heavy rain that drenches her hair and clothes. The men offer her coins for her performance, which are pocketed by Marquise's father. Gros-Rene immediately falls in love with Marquise. While an elderly gentlemen has his way with her, Gros-Rene proposes to her, promising that she will end up on a Paris stage if she accepts, which she does.

Although the beautiful Marquise and the balding portly Gros-Rene make an unlikely couple, their relationship is sustained by his unquestioning adoration and her reciprocal affection. While Marquise continues to sleep with other men, her love for her husband is unchanging. Marquise is next attracted to the budding playwright Racine (Lambert Wilson), who "coaches" her privately. When Louis XIV (Thierry Lhermitte) bans Moliere's Tartuffe, Racine writes a new tragedy Andromaque and Marquise gets her big break. Marquise's performance in Andromaque brings her acclaim. Written for his beloved in 1667, the tragedy assured Racine's reputation as a playwright. Unfortunately, the performances take their toll on Marquise and lead to a tragic end.

Cast

• Sophie Marceau
  Sophie Marceau
  Sophie Marceau is a French actress director, screenwriter, and author. She has appeared in 38 films. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films La boum and La boum 2 , receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress...
  
   as Marquise
• Bernard Giraudeau
  Bernard Giraudeau
  Bernard Giraudeau was a French actor, film director, scriptwriter, producer and writer.-Life:Giraudeau was born in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime. In 1963 he enlisted in the French navy as a trainee engineer, qualifying as the first in his class a year later...
  
   as Molière
• Lambert Wilson
  Lambert Wilson
  Lambert Wilson is a French actor. He is internationally known for his portrayal of The Merovingian in The Matrix He was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of Georges Wilson, who was an actor, theatrical manager and director of the Theatre National de Paris.Wilson screen tested for The...
  
   as Racine
• Patrick Timsit
  Patrick Timsit
  Patrick Timsit is a French comedian, writer and film director. He has been nominated for 4 César Awards, three times as an actor and once as a writer...
  
   as Gros René
• Thierry Lhermitte
  Thierry Lhermitte
  Thierry Lhermitte is a French actor, known for his comedic roles. He was one of the founders of the comedy troupe Le Splendid in the 1970s, along with, among others, his high-school friends Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot, and Michel Blanc...
  
   as Louis XIV
• Anémone as La Voisin
• Rémo Girone
  Remo Girone
  Remo Girone is an Italian film and stage actor. He is best known for the role of Tano Cariddi in the epic TV mini-series La Piovra , about the Mafia. As a Mafia leader, Tano's chief enemy was Commissario Corrado Cattani.- External links :...
  
   as Jean-Baptiste Lully
• Georges Wilson
  Georges Wilson
  Georges Wilson was a French film and television actor. He is the father of French actor Lambert Wilson.Wilson was born in Champigny-sur-Marne, Seine , to a French father and an Irish mother...
  
   as Floridor
• Marianne Basler as Madame
• Franck de la Personne as Monsieur
• Romina Mondello as Armande
• Estelle Skornik
  Estelle Skornik
  Estelle Skornik is a French actress.In the United Kingdom she is best remembered for playing "Nicole" alongside Max Douchin in a range of Renault Clio advertisements that at one point also featured the comedians Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.She also starred as "Ada" in the film version of From...
  
   as Marie
• Victoria Peña as la Reine
• Christine Joly as Madeleine
• Olivier Achard as Monsieur de Saint-Loup
• Patrice Melennec as Giacomo de Gorla père de Marquise
• Anne-Marie Philipe as Catherine de Brie
• Christine Joly as Madeleine Béjart
• Beatrice Palme as Geneviève
• Francisco Casares as Gorgibus (as Paco Casares)
• Guillermo Antón as Charles
• Eric Boucher as Brécourt
• Stéphane Boucher as Louis Béjart