I never got the hopefully dying craze of karaoke. I don’t see the point of going out to see talent-less people singing, if I did, I’d stay in and watch the X-Factor on Saturday nights. So, I had a little trepidation in going to see Marguerite, as this is the story of Marguerite Dumont (Catherine Frot), a wealthy, philanthropic socialite in 1920s France who aspires to be an opera singer. The problem is that she is completely hopeless! Fortunately, the scenes of her performing are mercifully short.
Also, for the most part, director Xavier Giannoli, who also contributed to the screenplay, does a good job at presenting why people surrounding Marguerite go along with her delusion, making the story involving and believable. The performances from Frot, Andre Macon as her husband and Denis Mpunga as her scheming butler are all solid, and the sets and period trappings are all sumptuous.
The flaws in the film are in the next level of supporting characters. As the young man who befriends and encourages Marguerite, Lucien Beaumont’s (Sylvain Dieuaide) reasons for allowing her to destroy herself are very unclear, as he genuinely seems fond of her. His friend, Kyrill (Aubert Fenoy) flits in and out of the film annoyingly and Beaumont’s romance with aspiring singer, Hazel, is very sketchily drawn. That is the shame, as Christa Theret is luminous in that small role.
This is a fictional tale but there are real similarities with the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, who is the subject of an upcoming biopic. It will be interesting to compare the 2 films, but for now this is worth a couple of hours of your time.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10