18th-Century Quest: Beaumarchais l’Insolent
Beaumarchais l’Insolent — aka Beaumarchais the Scoundrel — is a 1996 French film about the life of Pierre Beaumarchais, a late 18th-century intellectual, inventor, playwright, andâ¦
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Beaumarchais l’Insolent — aka Beaumarchais the Scoundrel — is a 1996 French film about the life of Pierre Beaumarchais, a late 18th-century intellectual, inventor, playwright, and spy. He’s best known for writing the three Figaro plays (including “The Barber of Seville” and “The Marriage of Figaro”), which were culturally influential in promoting the anti-aristocratic thinking that led to the French Revolution.

I’m in Paris on vacation, and the Petit Palais museum is hosting two 18th-century art exhibitions and showing 18th-century films as an accompaniment. Since this movie has been on my 18th-Century QuestÂ list for a while, and I’ve yet to find a decent copy in the States, I thought I’d better see it while I had the chance. Unfortunately my French isn’t quite fluent enough to keep up with rapid fire dialogue, so I definitely missed a lot of nuance (I made a point to read up on Beaumarchais before seeing the film, which helped).

Overall, I found the film entertaining if not overly inspired. Beaumarchais is, as the title of the film suggests, a scoundrel. He writes plays that get him in trouble with the government, has amours with actresses thatÂ land him in duels, and is a generally saucy wit. After a legal battle, he endsÂ up deprived of his civil rights, and King Louis XV enlistsÂ himÂ to be a spy in London in order to have his rights restored. So there’s lots of banter and theater and general shenanigans.

Costumes andÂ Hair in Beaumarchais l’Insolent

The costumes were designed byÂ Sylvie de Segonzac, who also designedÂ Marie-Antoinette, la VÃ©ritable Histoire (2006) andÂ Murderous Maids (2000). And here’s where I tell you it’s the proverbial mixed bag: some things they did very well, others were somewhat odd, and only two things made me WTF.

The film spans 1773-75, and therein lie some of the problems. First, let’s look at French fashions of that period. In both images below, note the women wearing silk dresses — robes Ã la franÃ§aise and anglaise (check my rant on back-lacing if you need a guide to women’s dresses of the 18th century) — open in front over stomachers with some level of hip fullness. Everyone’s hair is powdered, and the men are either wearing wigs or at least have their hair styled short in front, rolls over the ears, and long in back:

Further down the social scaleÂ you see simpler jackets and fitted gowns; for the upper classes, note the women in robes Ã la franÃ§aise or poufy, drawn-up robes Ã la polonaise:

Now let’s look at the film:

And now, finally, I want to talk about two specific female characters:

When Beaumarchais goes to London as a spy, he meets the famed Chevalier d’Eon, a French spy who first lived as a man and then as a woman. First, let’s look at the real Chevalier:

And then compare them to the film version:

And then, there are two quick scenes featuring famed court painter Elisabeth VigÃ©e Le Brun. Once again, let’s look at the real deal:

And again, the film version:

Have you seenÂ Beaumarchais l’Insolent? Which other French 18th century-set films should I make sure to track down?

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