Film Review: Ridicule

France, 1996, 102 min
Director: Patrice Leconte
Cast: Charles Berling, Jean Rochefort, Judith Godrèche, Bernard Giraudeau, Bernard Dhéran, Carlo Brandt, Jacques Mathou, Urbain Cancelier

The film ‘Ridicule’ reminds one of movies that have handled the theme of decadence as a lifestyle. Similar films that come to mind are Hollywood exports ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ and the recently released ‘Marie Antoniette’ as well as the deliciously wicked ‘La Reine Margot’, a little known Merchant-Ivory movie, ‘The golden bowl’ and the under-appreciated Stanley Kubrick classic ‘Barry Lyndon’.

We know decadence is ‘bad’ but we love the thought of having the luxury to be so wicked.

‘Ridicule’ in that sense plays with the audience’s basic instincts, as it is set in the Palace of Versailles where ‘wit’ is everything, above truth, morality, people and hygiene, where decadence is seen as the height of civilization. If you are witty enough, you have the king’s ear. In this bad, rich world comes the good aristocrat Gregoire Ponceludon de Malavoy, played by Charles Berling, who needs money to build a sewage canal for his people. The hero is such a good boy that he repeatedly gets conned by the king’s mistress into ridicule though at one point he does manage to get the king’s ear.

Ultimately his self righteousness and his lady love make him choose the ‘correct’ path to success, which is by working hard, not by being witty or by sleeping with the king’s mistress (played superbly by Fanny Ardant)

In that sense the movie is a moral tale, and I must admit, disappointing. In its handling of the moral dilemma, it sounds more mainstream Hollywood than self-indulgent French. We would have hailed the hero more had he won by using the rules of the system to beat the system, instead he becomes a caricature of Tom Cruise transported to 18th century Versailles.

Shivani Ratra

Living A Double Life

I am not in two places at one time, but I do live a double life.

In one, I live next to 300 hectares of wood and spend much of my time cleaning out leaves during autumn and chopping wood for fire during winter. Here, the air is very fresh and the surroundings quiet.

Here, I enjoy the sound of nature: of birds singing and the trees swaying in the wind.

Here, I converse in French and drive on the right side of the road.

In another, I live in this tropical island city state, amidst skyscrapers and dense residential estates.

My favourite occupation here is roller-blading by the sea and then having my ‘mee-pok ta’ (noodles) at my regular heartland coffee-shop.

Here, I enjoy the casual, humid and sweaty environment.

Here, I speak Singlish to make sure my orders are correctly placed.

Professionally, I am an information security specialist serving mostly banks in developed countries. In another, I sell environmental systems serving governments, mostly in developing countries.

Living a double life is fun, but it can be stressful, since I cannot be in two places at one time.

Some people live a double life in two countries: one of them overt and the other covert and unknown to their spouses - making it a quadruple life!

Michael Chua

On Inter-Faith Gatherings

An "Inter-Faith Dinner Reception" was held in Singapore recently.

Fortunately I was not among the invitees. To be quite frank, I try to avoid these dinners, where my strict vegetarianism is usually an embarrassment to both host and guest.

I personally (and all the members of my family as well) have never had any great difficulty in moving with members of other faiths and/or those of different ethnic origins.

I cannot recall that there were such 'divides' in our younger days when we were at school, and didn't know, or even care, about the backgrounds of our classmates.

Most of us were from middle-class and lower backgrounds, unlike the present times where affluence and influence count for a lot.

Perhaps I owe a lot to the liberal attitude of my father, who was an immigrant.

He used to take me along to visit the houses of his friends and colleagues when the various ethnic festivals came along. For our Deepavali, it was open-house for anybody and everybody.

In particular, he had a large number of Jewish friends. Few of that ethnic community are to be found today here in Singapore, when they were once a thriving and vibrant ethnic group. Where have they gone, and why?

Against the above background, I wonder how effective these official dialogues or dinners can be in sending a relevant message to the common citizenry, especially when a Prime Minister and his deputy address the same topic on the same day; one of which is written up at length in one newspaper, with little emphasis on the other, and another daily gives top billing to the other.

And when great world leaders challenge - as current US president Mr George W Bush did - "let's find out whose God is more powerful", I feel quite cynical about these attempts to unite people on a religious basis or bias.

Hope I will not be burnt at the stake for these heretical thoughts as in medieval times!

Yours etc.
Narayana Narayana