bicycling with molière (alceste à bicyclette) 2013 region free dvd5 french bcbc

bicycling with molière (alceste à bicyclette) 2013 region free dvd5 french PART 1 AND 2 bcbc

(for files to be dvd5 size had to split movie over two discs)



Bicycling with Molière (French: Alceste à bicyclette) is a 2013 French comedy-drama film directed by Philippe Le Guay. In January 2014, the film received three nominations at the 39th César Awards. Stars Farbrice Luchini and Lambert Wilson.

Contains movie and Optional English Subtitles. No menus or extras. Regular DVD quality. Thank you.

Spoken Language: French (some Italian)













Synopsis

A TV celebrity faces an uphill battle as he tries to persuade his old pal, once-famous actor Serge Tanneur, to take on the lead in a Moliere play, no easy task considering the reclusive Serge has given up acting and burns every script he receives.



Cast

Fabrice Luchini, Lambert Wilson, Maya Sansa, Camille Japy, Laurie Bordesoules, Patrick Bonnel



Hating Humanity, on Two Wheels

‘Bicycling With Molière’ Deconstructs ‘The Misanthrope’

Cycling with Moliere

NYT Critics’ Pick

By STEPHEN HOLDEN APRIL 22, 2014

“When I see men treat each other as they do, I see nothing but base flattery, injustice, treachery, selfishness and deceit.”



Those words are heard more than once in “Bicycling With Molière,” the French director Philippe Le Guay’s witty contemporary deconstruction of Molière’s 17th-century comedy “The Misanthrope.”



As two actors of opposite temperaments discuss a possible collaboration on a new production of the play, their arguments about interpretation become part of a sneaky power game in which each tries to get the better of the other. Because both want to portray the title character, Alceste, they agree to take turns if Serge Tanneur (Fabrice Luchini), the older of the two, finally says yes to the project.



Their conversations take place on the Île de Ré, an island off the west coast of France, where Serge, a retired actor of considerable renown, lives a reclusive existence in a dingy cottage whose leaky sewage system he refuses to repair out of general ill will. Their discussions begin when Gauthier Valence (Lambert Wilson), a handsome actor of late middle age who plays a surgeon on a popular nighttime soap opera, visits Serge to propose the revival. A scene from that tacky soap, for which Valence is highly paid, suggests that they come from not only different show business worlds but also different planets.



As they try out various line readings, they never proceed beyond the first scene of Act I, in which the bitter, uncompromisingly moralistic Alceste debates social ethics with Philinte, who preaches civility and discretion in the interests of peaceful coexistence. Many of the actors’ dialogues take place as they bicycle side by side on the picturesque island, where Gauthier is contemplating buying a house.



Initially, they seem to be perfectly typecast for the roles of Alceste and Philinte. Mr. Luchini’s scruffy, unshaven Serge surveys the world with the contemptuous glare of a know-it-all poised to pounce on an adversary. What appears at first to be a smile on his face is a really a baring of teeth. Serge takes an unseemly relish in voicing Alceste’s views of how awful human beings really are. And Mr. Luchini, a Molière aficionado, gives one of his sharpest screen performances ever.



Gauthier is a latter-day dandy on the verge of going to seed; his overly styled hair suggests the coif on a Las Vegas crooner. But he is not nearly as nice as he pretends to be. And in one scene, he punches a persistent fan for no particular reason.



The veiled competition intensifies once Francesca (Maya Sansa), an attractive, bad-tempered real estate agent, enters the picture. The movie pays deliberate tribute to “Jules and Jim,” as both men cagily vie for her attention.



Although Francesca, who is going through a divorce, lightens up as the story goes along, she is as bitter, in her way, as Serge is in his. Early in the film, she blithely announces that they’re all going to die, their flesh will go flabby, they’ll rot in the grave, and everything will end up as dust.



The screenplay is far from seamless. Its slapstick moments — two involving cyclists who are run off the road, and another in a hot tub that acts like a boiling caldron — don’t quite land. A subplot, in which a beautiful aspiring actress slumming in pornography reads Molière for them, goes nowhere. But those are small complaints.



“Bicycling With Molière” reunites Mr. Le Guay and Mr. Luchini, whose last film together was the frothy boulevard comedy “The Women on the 6th Floor.” The new movie has a little more weight. The screenplay ultimately bears out Alceste’s observations about treachery, selfishness and deceit, but with such charm and zest that their sting tickles more than it hurts.