Jean de La Fontaine - Le défi (2007)
Directed by Daniel Vigne

Film Review

A few months after the release of Molière (2007), the life of another celebrated French writer comes under the spotlight in Jean de La Fontaine - Le défi.  Directed by Daniel Vigne, who is still best known for Le Retour de Martin Guerre (1982), the film attempts to shed some light on the life and character of a writer about whom surprisingly little is known.   Although it has a fine cast and some exemplary production values (the sets and costumes are stunning), the film is a bland, plodding affair and, lacking in focus, character depth and narrative coherence, soon becomes a tad tedious.  Vigne's direction also lacks the inspired touch of his previous work, although the film's real attention killers are its lacklustre photography and flaccid screenplay, which fails to offer anything more than a superficial and hackneyed portrayal of the central character and the period he inhabits. Jean de La Fontaine - Le défi is a film that promises much but delivers frustratingly little, other than to reawaken your interest in a great French writer.

Film Synopsis

5th September 1661 is an important date in the history of France, since this was the day on which Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances and most powerful of the king's advisors, was arrested on the orders of the state councillor Jean-Baptiste Colbert, with the result that the young Louis XIV became the sole governor of his kingdom.   As other artists line up to glorify their royal patron and champion the divine right of the king, the poet Jean de La Fontaine abstains and merely voices his support for the ousted Fouquet.  Colbert is incensed and resolves to bring the rebellious poet to heel.  But from that day, La Fontaine would remain true to his convictions.  Penniless and reviled, he resists Colbert's taunts and occupies himself by writing his famous fables and scathing pamphlets against what he knows to be a despotic and decadent government...