From a marketing standpoint Marguerite doesn't seem like the easiest sell for American general audiences. Florence Foster Jenkins, upon whom the titular fictional character of Marguerite is based, is far from a household name in America. Perhaps a few of you may have come across her story in a Cracked article. For that matter, I don't imagine that Catherine Frot, the French actress who imbues Marguerite with her humanity and enduring optimism, is much better known here in the states. Did I mention that this movie is entirely in French and is about a woman's love of opera? Each of these elements has its fans but combine them all and you'd seem to arrive at a very small subsection of the populace to whom Marguerite would appeal.
And yet, in many ways, Marguerite is actually rather conventional fare. Although it is fictional (despite drawing inspiration from some real life figures) it doesn't stray far beyond the confines of a typical period piece biopic. Once the players are established, the story doesn't truly go anywhere you don't expect it to. There's a comfort to the formulaic nature of movies like this. In the case of Marguerite, I enjoyed being in the world director Xavier Giannoli created. It was beautiful without the artificial high glamour of typical Hollywood movies. It had the trappings one would expect in a movie about the wealthy in post WWI France, with the added fanciful flair of Marguerite's frivolous expenditures (a large eyeball, a pair of wings, a Brunhilde costume). They successfully brought to life the world of a woman who spends without being concerned about where the money is coming from.
If I'm giving the impression that the movie was simple fluff, I do not mean to. Certainly it has many moments of levity and silliness but there are also nefarious threads weaving through the story, threatening to burst the bubble of Marguerite's happiness more than the revelation that her singing voice is really not very good. The Baroness Dumont's delusion persists for so long because she lives among liars who find it convenient to tell untruths for one reason or another. There are the charming young people who scheme to various degrees but all benefit from her largesse. There is her blackmailed singing teacher and his helpers who introduce a vulgarity into her orderly world. There is her faithful servant Madelbos who tries the hardest to shield her from the truth. How much of that is out of affection and how much of it is driven by his own selfish needs and artistic project is up to your interpretation. The movie also hints at class issues with the hypocritical wealthy music club which tolerates her patronage but this thread doesn't go much of anywhere.
Speaking of which, the degree to which the story has been fictionalized both helps and hurts. The movie can be quite charming and amusing and has its fun with various quirky personages but when the time comes for things to come to a close, none of the threads are resolved in a truly satisfying way. The future of the relationship of the young couple that we keep revisiting throughout the story is left a mystery. Marguerite ends the movie in a faint and the states of her health and sanity and singing voice are unconfirmed. The growing intrigue concerning Madelbos is cut off before he can really be developed as a character.
Having given it some thought, I would lay much of the blame for this on the choice to focus so much of the movie on the ultimate deception in Marguerite's life, that of her faithless husband. Almost all their interactions seem grounded in falsehood. He engages in petty deceptions to avoid being honest about her lack of singing ability and more importantly about his lack of love and respect for her. Her pursuit of music is driven by his inattention. As Marguerite states at one point, it is all he has left her. Frot plays the part of the neglected wife well but it was difficult to find much depth in this well-trodden territory. Although her husband was the biggest liar of them all, his lies felt the most ordinary. Perhaps this might have been more compelling if we had any reason to root for their reconciliation. Without it, though the movie is enjoyable in the moment, all the anarchists and bearded ladies and unexplained fire imagery ended up being more interesting set dressing to disguise the unremarkable plot at the center of the narrative. You can feel the movie skimming the surface when it might be better served by diving deep into the world of the liars that Marguerite herself passes through without seeing for what they are.
But that would be another movie. Like Marguerite, this one refuses to live in the real world until the final frame. With that said, if it at all appeals to you, I would urge you to give it a chance in spite of its weak fifth act. The performances are solid, the movie is pretty, and the operatic numbers, both good and bad, are well-chosen and enjoyable. It's probably not necessary to see it in the theater but at home, on Netflix, I think there's plenty there that will charm you. Personally, I am intrigued by what Catherine Frot and Xavier Giannoli will move onto next.
