Richard Broom Photography

See all my film reviews here.

If there is one type of music I really can’t stand to listen to, it is opera. Sorry opera lovers. And so, I resisted watching the French language film Marguerite for quite some time. This was a mistake!

Marguerite is a film inspired by Florence Foster Jenkins who was a true opera afficiando but who could not sing. In the film Marguerite, Marguerite Dumont is played by the wonderful Catherine Frot. Marguerite is a wealthy woman whose deepest wish is to become a famous opera singer. There is but one problem – Marguerite Dumont cannot sing for toffee. Indeed, when she does sing, she belts out one discordant and ear-splitting note after another. Marguerite’s sycophantic friends, her husband and her staff pretend to adore her singing and she waltzes along in a fantasy world believing she has the voice of an operatic angel. She hasn’t (and not by a long shot).

Marguerite is a beautiful made film with magnificent performances from Catherine Frot, the man who plays her husband, André Marcon and especially Marguerite’s highly supportive butler, Madelbos – played excellently by Denis Mpunga. I am sure that we will see much more of Denis Mpunga in international films in the future.

I now need to watch the film Florence Foster Jenkins starring Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep to see how it compares to Marguerite.

Marguerite, set in the decadent 1920s, is wonderfully constructed and photographed film and I recommend it highly.

I give Marguerite the PhotoNomad 10/10 rating plus two ticks, three stars and four cherries on top!

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