Le Libertin is a French filmby Gabriel Aghion released in 2000 .
Synopsis
In the xviii th century, when the Church prohibited the distribution of the Encyclopedia, the philosopher Diderot continues nevertheless to clandestinely printed in the castle of Baron and Baroness d’Holbach.
The finishing touches to his work, however: what definition of the word “moral”? Moreover, the arrival at the castle of the Cardinal and M me Therbouche, an alleged coming artist to do a portrait of Diderot, does not help matters.
The cardinal, however, will not be left out either, in a castle where vice is preferred to religious teachings: a libertine Diderot, a baroness more greedy than ever, a baron who invents the pig’s organ and other aphrodisiacs , two homosexual marquises wallowing in lust, a knight who represses his homosexuality and whose wife is a nymphomaniac who does not forget to confess anyway and finally the daughters of the baron and the philosopher who absolutely want to lose their virginity as soon as possible .
Technical sheet
- Original title: The Libertine
- Director: Gabriel Aghion
- Screenwriter: Gabriel Aghion and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt
- Scripts: Suzanne Durrenberger
- Production company: Bel Ombre Films , Canal + , Josy Films , Mosca Films , No Counterfeit Productions , TF1 Films Production .
- Producer: Raphaël Cohen
- Music from the film: Bruno Coulais
- Director of photography: Jean-Marie Dreujou
- Editing: Luc Barnier
- Distribution of roles: Gérard Moulévrier
- Set Design: Dan Weil
- Set decorator: Sandrine Mauvezin
- Costume design: Olivier Bériot
- Country of origin: France
- Genre: Comedy
- Duration: 1 h 40
- Release date : in France
Distribution
- Vincent Pérez : Denis Diderot
- Michel Serrault : the cardinal, brother of the baron
- Fanny Ardant : Madame Therbouche
- Arielle Dombasle : Madame de Jerfeuil
- Josiane Balasko : Baroness of Holbach
- Christian Charmetant : Knight of Jerfeuil
- Françoise Lépine : Madame Diderot
- François Lalande : Baron of Holbach
- Bruno Todeschini : Marquis of Cambrol
- Arnaud Lemaire : Marquis of Lutz
- Audrey Tautou : Julie d’Holbach
- Vahina Giocante : Angelique Diderot
- Yan Duffas : Abraham
- Véronique Vella : The cousin of Jerfeuil
- Éric Savin : Chief of Police
- Thierry Nzeutem : Mohamed, the eunuch masseur
- Jean Pommier : The servant
Around the film
- The introductory song, performed by Josiane Balasko, is a rather loose adaptation of The Word and the Thing , a gallant poem by Father Gabriel-Charles de Lattaignant .
- Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt , the author of the eponymous play The Libertine , would have contractually demanded to be affixed the words “Freely betrayed the book of Eric Emmanuel Schmitt” at the beginning of the film, denying any adaptation character of his artwork. 1
Notes and Comments
- ↑ André Helbo: Signs of the show: from the living arts to the media.