• Director: Louis de Funès, Jean Girault
• Script: Louis de Funès, Jean Girault, Molière (play)
• Photo: Edmond Richard
• Music: Jean Bizet
• Cast: Louis de Funès (Harpagon), Frank David (Cléante), Hervé Bellon (Valére), Georges Audoubert (Anselme), Guy Grosso (Brindavoine), Michel Modo (La merluche), Henri Génès (Le commissaire), Max Montavon (Maître Simon), Micheline Bourday (Dame Claude), Madeleine Barbulée (La mère de Marianne), Anne Caudry (Marianne), Claire Dupray (Elise), Michel Galabru (Maître Jacques)
• Country: France
• Language: French
• Runtime: 125 min
• Aka: The Miser

Louis de Funès doesn’t just play the part of the miser Harpagon – he is Harpagon, right down to his threadbare socks.  In a performance that surpasses brilliance, de Funès’s portrayal is both exceptionally funny and unequivocally poignant.  He reminds us that Harpagon is not a villain – he is really a sad, sad figure who deserves our pity more than our contempt.  In between tyrannising his children and flogging his servants, Harpagon is a tragic figure who, unloved by humanity, is driven to an obsessive love of money. De Funès manages to draw out that unhappy side of the character without ever letting up on his relentlessly obnoxious behaviour for one moment.

In keeping with the theme of the play, the sets are unusually spartan for a French period drama, with Harpagon’s horses represented by a blown-up sketch!  However, this strangely works to the film’s advantage.  With such scintillating dialogue and acting, an impressive background set would be just a distraction.

That not withstanding, the film does employ some spectacular scene shifts – at one pointing projecting Harpagon onto a theatre stage so that he can deliver one of his asides.  This kind of visual gimmickry is a little distracting but it does seem to work within the context of the play.

© James Travers 2000