L'avare (1980)

English titles: The Miser; Grandiose Delusions.

Based on the play by Molière, first performed in 1668, and in turn "loosely based on the Latin comedy Aulularia by Plautus, from which many incidents and scraps of dialogue are borrowed, as well as from contemporary Italian farces" (Wikipedia). On the sources of L'avare, see also this article by Moritz Levi.

Harpagon, a widower with a son and a daughter, wants to marry a young woman. The problem is that his son is also in love with her and she with him. His daughter in turn wants to marry Harpagon's butler. Harpagon has a chest full of coins buried in his back yard.

This is a faithful adaptation of the play, very well done. For those who enjoy this sort of antique it must be a treat. One of the big problems for me is that there is a blatant contradiction in the main character's psyche. He wants to marry out of love, which contradicts his whole characterization as a miser. Well, anyway, that's the way they wrote plays in those far gone days, without much psychologizing. The French Wikipedia page on this film is impressively extensive. One learns, for example, that one line from the play which was suppressed in the film was: « Comment diable ! quel Juif, quel Arabe est-ce là ? » (said by Cléante), and that it is often absent in modern theatrical performances as well. One reads also that one of the critiques made to the film is that the amorous side of the main character was not given any attention by the main actor. But that was not given any attention by the playwright either! My take is quite the opposite: as subtlety was never a forte of that actor, he is perfect for this kind of play and role. But justice be done: his original contribution to the adaptation, both sequences featuring an offerings collector for the Church, the last of which ends the film, are pure genius.

Rating: 50