SKU: 28680986303

The Lavish Lovers: A Comedy Interspersed with Music and Ballet, Molière

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The Lavish Lovers: A Comedy Interspersed with Music and Ballet, MolièreOverview The Lavish Lovers, commissioned by Louis XIV to put on display all that theatre could offer, is an important example of the Sun Kings use of art as an instrument of government. Part ballet, part comedy, with music by Jean Baptiste Lully, it shows all the main trends of French court entertainments. The king was a true artistic collaborator; he specified the subject, the characters, and the setting. The roles of Neptune and Apollo were designed

Overview

The Lavish Lovers, commissioned by Louis XIV to put on display all that theatre could offer, is an important example of the Sun King’s use of art as an instrument of government. Part ballet, part comedy, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, it shows all the main trends of French court entertainments. The king was a true artistic collaborator; he specified the subject, the characters, and the setting. The roles of Neptune and Apollo were designed for him to perform as a dancer. In carrying out the assignment, however, Molière modified the elements to produce a show that the patron had not imagined. Long dismissed as a kind of forced labour, it is in fact a significant achievement, which makes us think about the political role of art and the use of different art forms within a single work. In it we see the playwright’s craft and ideas at an important stage of his career, and his ability to maintain his artistic integrity under an authoritarian régime.

David Edney is a professor emeritus in the Department of Languages and Linguistics at the University of Saskatchewan. He has previously published an edition of Beaumarchais’s Three Figaro Plays in the Carleton Renaissance Play series. His translations of French plays have been performed in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He is now beginning to add Spanish and Italian plays to his repertoire.

286 pp.
ISBN: 978-077272046-7 softcover
Published: 2009

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction
Molière's Career in the Theatre
Molière's Comedy-Ballets: Questions of Genre
The Lavish Lovers as Ballet: The History of Court Entertainments
The Lavish Lovers as Comedy: The Significance of the Work

List of Molière's Comedy-Ballets

Bibliography/Discography

Illustrations

The Lavish Lovers

Notes to the Lavish Lovers

Appendices (contemporary texts about The Lavish Lovers and about seventeenth-century ideas and practice concerning dance and theatrical machinery)
I. The Program of the Lavish Lovers
II. A Review of The Lavish Lovers (Gazette de France, February 21, 1670)
III. Louis XIV, Memoirs, 1666-72 (excerpts)
IV. Michel de Pure, On Theatrical Spectacles, Ancient and Recent, 1668 (excerpts)
A Definition of Ballet
The Courtier and Dance
The Value of Dance
On Theatrical Machinery
On the Programme Verses
V. Pierre Corneille, Andromède, The Decor for Act Three, 1650
VI. Nicola Sabbattini, Constructing Stage Sets and Theatrical Machinery, 1638 (excerpts)

Reviews

Sixteenth Century Journal, 43:3 (Fall 2012), pp. 797-798. Reviewed by Joan E. McRae.

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SKU: 28680986303

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4.1 ★★★★★
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Verified Purchase
Joel Bradford
Los Angeles, US
★★★★★ 4
Beautiful, glorious, and depressing but not without levity
Probably Gilliams most serious film, a story of a dreamer in a dystopian bureaucratic future, plagued by monotony and endless paperwork, our protagonist (played by Jonathan Pryce) isn't sure what he wants in his life, but he knows he wants something different. When the Department of Information Retrieval disappears the wrong person (played by Robert De Niro), our hero goes to reimburse the widow and discovers a woman living in the same building who looks like the woman out of his dreams (played by Kim Greist). Really stellar performances by Pryce, and a gaggle of supporting actors such as Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Kathrine Helmond, and Bob Hoskins. Greists performance is probably the weakest, but she does enough for the role that the critique of it amounts to a nit pick really. While this film is considered a cult classic, I would qualify it even less and say its just a classic, full of symbolism with a increasingly repressive tone throughout balanced by Gilliams puncturing, dark humor.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2024
M
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Mr. Watkins
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 5
Classic Terry Gilliam- Watch It!
One of the best Terry Gilliam movies out there. Made in the 1980's, the cast is superb, and it holds up well 40 years on. WAtch it- it's a trip!
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Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2026
M
Verified Purchase
***moviemaker***
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 5
BLU RAY is the 132 minute Original U.S. Theatrical Cut FINALLY!!!!
] On this Blu-ray for the first time ever we get the ORIGINAL 132 minute version of the film as was shown in U.S. theaters. (Note: This is NOT the "Love Conquers All" Sheinberg/TV Edit.) All the DVD releases before this have been the European Version/Director's Cut of the film. Even the original Universal DVD release that said Theatrical Cut on the box actually had the European Version/Director's Cut. Unfortunately, Universal didn't really spend any time cleaning up the negative for Hi-Definition (there is very noticeable instances of dirt and debris on the negative) but it still beats the image quality found on the Universal SD DVD, and they do include an amazing DTS-HD Master 5.1. We'll just have to wait for the Criterion Blu-ray of Brazil for image perfection but serious fans of Brazil will want to get this Blu-ray edition just to have this version of the film as it was originally seen in theaters in 1985. I actually find this 132-minute version is in many ways a superior cut of the film. Here are the differences in detail: *In the 132-minute version you cut from Sam in bed with Jill, police sack goes over head, then CUT TO Pull off police sack to reveal Sam in Torture Chamber/Interrogation chair. This one cut is simply brilliant and very powerful. In the Criterion Version you have the added scene of Mr. Helpman as Father Christmas (completely out of charcater from the rest of the film) and the whole interrogation scene of Sam hanging from the rack inside the police/mail pouch which becomes narratively redundant and dilutes the impact of the final scene. *To end it with cooling tower/interrogation room fade to clouds was a great Gilliam wink of subversion and irreverence to the cliche Hollywood Ending. As opposed to the European cut of just credits over cooling tower/interrogation room. *The Samurai Scene is divided into 3 separate scenes in the 132-minute version versus 1 LONG scene in the European cut. And you know what? Like most things, it works better in 3's. *The 132-minute version cuts straight to the Dinner Scene with Ida (his mother) ordering numero deux, trois, etc. while the European version has the entrance to the restaurant of going through the metal detector which really doesn't add anything and is again a bit redundant when the bomb does eventually go off in the restaurant. With the scene, you're signaling to the audience we are looking for a bomb, so we expect a bomb. Without the added scene, the bombing is unexpected and it actually shocks you so you're both horrified and laughing. The unexpectedness also works as it builds upon the bomb motif from the first explosion at the beginning of Brazil during the Ducts advert. *And finally I just love that the 132-minute version opens on those clouds (outtakes from The Never-Ending Story) then goes to the Central Services advert about Ducts: "Are your ducts old-fashioned, out-of-date... " Now the Criterion version also has the clouds opening (The Original European Cut didn't) but it's funny because the Studio asked Gilliam to start off with the clouds for the US Cut and he actually prefers it as quoted in his Director's commentary. Hilarious. Little changes that add up to a tighter and overall, better film.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2011
W
Verified Purchase
W.P.
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
Great cast; well directed
Great movie; lives up to its reviews
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Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2026
B
Verified Purchase
Basket Case
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 5
An ageless classic !
I hadn't re-watched this movie since the first time I saw it, when it came out in 1985. Back then, it had stricken the public with its fatalistic and pessimistic view of an overwhelming bureacracy, a suggested characteristic of fully-centralised power in a controlled society in the future. Today, we can still admire some of its validity and premonitory qualities (and the sarcastic humour !). The dream-like scenes and symbols used in the film are also ageless. Ever-growing computer systems govern today the relationships we hold with banks, government departments, utilities, phone companies, etc. Who hasn't experienced the frustration of dealing with their 'machines' and/or incompetent & robotic bureaucrats when problems or errors arise in their service? 'Brazil' will seem so familiar! The omni-presence of screens in our lives, everywhere and incessantly offering us products or services, or used to control our movements and behaviour, is also a well-guessed futuristic scenario by Gilliam & co. And what to say about the 'terrorism' and the 'permanent state of fear' portrayed back then? Sounds familiar today? I recommend this movie to anyone interested in the threats of an unbridled, arrogant and all-powerful bureaucracy in human society. The film can be a bit 'heavy' at times, though. Not everyone's cup of tea. Watch it first, before sharing with friends or family.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2012

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