‘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 Ațos 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.