Marguerite (2015 film)

Marguerite is a 2015 French-language comedy-drama film directed by Xavier Giannoli and written by Giannoli and Marcia Romano, loosely inspired by the life of Florence Foster Jenkins. The film is an international co-production among France, the Czech Republic, and Belgium.^[4] Marguerite received eleven nominations at the 41st César Awards, winning for Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Production Design.^[5]

Marguerite
Film poster
Directed by	Xavier Giannoli
Written by	Xavier Giannoli Marcia Romano
Produced by	Artemio Benki Olivier Delbosc Marc Missonnier
Starring	Catherine Frot
Cinematography	Glynn Speeckaert
Edited by	Cyril Nakache
Music by	Ronan Maillard
Production companies	La Banque Postale 8 Canal+ CNC Eurimages Fidélité Films France 3 Cinéma France Télévisions Scope Pictures Sirena Film
Distributed by	Memento Films Distribution (France) ArtCam (Czech Republic)
Release dates	4 September 2015 (2015-09-04) (Venice) 16 September 2015 (2015-09-16) (France) 24 September 2015 (2015-09-24) (Czech Republic)
Running time	128 minutes[1]
Countries	France Czech Republic Belgium
Language	French
Budget	$8.7 million [2]
Box office	$8.8 million[3]

Plot

Set in the Golden Twenties, the film stars Catherine Frot as a wealthy woman who is an enthusiastic amateur singer and believes, wrongly, that she has a beautiful voice.

Cast

• Catherine Frot as Marguerite Dumont
• André Marcon as Georges Dumont
• Denis Mpunga as Madelbos
• Michel Fau as Atos Pezzini / Divo
• Christa Theret as Hazel Klein
• Astrid Whettnall as Françoise Bellaire
• Sylvain Dieuaide as Lucien Beaumont
• Aubert Fenoy as Kyrill Von Priest
• Sophia Leboutte as Félicité La Barbue
• Théo Cholbi as Diego

Production

The film was shot in Prague from mid-September to early December 2014 (from September 15 to November 19).^[6][7]

Release

Marguerite was screened in the main competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.^[8][9]

Reception

Critical response

The film was well received by the critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 95%, based on 110 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Touching, funny, and thoughtful, Marguerite honors its real-life inspiration with a well-acted and ultimately inspirational look at the nature of art and the value of a dream."^[10] On Metacritic the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[11]

Screendaily described the film as "original, funny and touching".^[12] Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "offers up an amusingly entertaining portrait of fortune, infamy and severe melodic dysfunction".^[13] Cineuropa gave the film a positive review, and said that the director "has brought together the best of his sensitivity and attraction to characters that are passionate and obsessive to the extreme, to paint the portrait of an unusual woman, who Catherine Frot plays with stunning dramatic and comical genius".^[14]

Accolades

Award / Film Festival	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
César Awards[15]	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Director	Xavier Giannoli	Nominated
	Best Actress	Catherine Frot	Won
	Best Supporting Actor	Michel Fau	Nominated
		André Marcon	Nominated
	Best Original Screenplay	Xavier Giannoli	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Glynn Speeckaert	Nominated
	Best Editing	Cyril Nakache	Nominated
	Best Sound	François Musy and Gabriel Hafner	Won
	Best Costume Design	Pierre-Jean Larroque	Won
	Best Production Design	Martin Kurel	Won
Louis Delluc Prize[16]	Best Film		Nominated
Lumières Awards[17]	Best Film		Nominated
	Best Director	Xavier Giannoli	Nominated
	Best Actress	Catherine Frot	Won
	Best Screenplay	Xavier Giannoli	Nominated
Magritte Awards[18]	Best Foreign Film in Coproduction		Nominated
Venice International Film Festival	Golden Lion		Nominated
	P. Nazareno Taddei Award		Won

See also

• Florence Foster Jenkins, a 2016 British-French film starring Meryl Streep as Jenkins.

References

1. "MARGUERITE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 9 December 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
2. "Marguerite (2015) - JP Box-Office".
3. "Marguerite". Box Office Mojo.
4. "Xavier Giannoli shooting Marguerite in the Czech Republic". Cineuropa. 28 October 2014.
5. "Cesar Awards: Philippe Faucon's Drama 'Fatima' Wins Best Film". Variety. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
6. "Marguerite (2015) - Filming & production - IMDb". IMDb.
7. "Cinematographer Glynn Speeckaert, AFC, SBC, discusses his work on Fred Grivois' film "Through the Air (La Résistance de l'air)", and Xavier Giannoli' film "Marguerite"". AFC. 9 June 2015.
8. "Venice Film Festival: Lido Lineup Builds Awards Season Buzz – Full List". Deadline. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
9. "Venice Fest Reveals Robust Lineup Featuring Hollywood Stars and International Auteurs". Variety. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
10. "Marguerite". Rotten Tomatoes.
11. "Marguerite". Metacritic.
12. "'Marguerite': Review". Screendaily.com. 4 September 2015.
13. "'Marguerite': Venice Review". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 September 2015.
14. "Marguerite: A voice that will tear you apart". Cineuropa. 4 September 2015.
15. "'Golden Years,' 'Marguerite,' 'Dheepan,' 'Mustang' Lead Cesar Nominations". Variety. 27 January 2016.
16. "Philippe Faucon's 'Fatima' Wins Louis Delluc Prize for Best French Film". Variety. 16 December 2015.
17. "Prix Lumières 2016 : Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse et Mustang en tête des nominations". AlloCiné. 4 January 2016.
18. "Les " Magritte du Cinéma ", c'est le 6 février prochain à 20h00". Cinergie.

External links

• Marguerite at IMDb
• Marguerite at Rotten Tomatoes
• Marguerite at Cohen Media Group (U.S. Distributor)