L'Avare is a 1980 French comedy film written and directed by Louis de Funès and Jean Girault, and starring de Funès. The English title of the film is The Miser. It is an adaptation of Molière's famous comedy L'Avare (The Miser).
De Funès tried to draw out the unhappy side of the character. Harpagon, unloved by humanity, is driven to an obsessive love of money.
Contents
Plot
The film takes place in 17th-century Paris and closely follows the plot of Molière's classic comedy. Harpagon is a wealthy, tyrannical, and pathologically miserly widower who loves nothing more than his hidden casket containing 10,000 gold coins, which he has buried in his garden. His extreme greed makes life miserable for his two children, Cléante and Élise, as well as his household servants.
Harpagon plans to secure wealthy, arranged marriages for his children that will cost him nothing. He intends to marry Élise to the elderly, wealthy Signor Anselme solely because Anselme agrees to take her without a dowry. Meanwhile, Harpagon plans to marry a young, impoverished woman named Mariane for himself. He is entirely unaware that Élise is secretly in love with Valère—who has taken a job as Harpagon's house steward just to be close to her—and that Cléante is deeply in love with Mariane.
Desperate for financial independence to marry Mariane, Cléante tries to secure a loan through an intermediary, only to discover that the usurious, predatory lender is his own father. Tensions escalate during a dinner hosted by Harpagon, who forces his guests and servants to endure ridiculous restrictions to save money.
The climax is triggered when Cléante’s clever servant, La Flèche, discovers and steals Harpagon's buried gold casket. Distraught and driven to near-madness by the loss of his money, Harpagon summons a police magistrate and suspects everyone in the city of the theft. In a bid for revenge, the disgruntled cook and coachman, Maître Jacques, falsely accuses Valère of stealing the treasure. When confronted, Valère misunderstands the accusation, thinking Harpagon has discovered his secret love for Élise, and confesses his devotion to her instead.
The situation is resolved with the arrival of Signor Anselme. It is miraculously revealed that Valère and Mariane are long-lost siblings, and Anselme is their wealthy father, who survived a historic shipwreck years ago. Anselme agrees to pay for both weddings (Cléante to Mariane, and Valère to Élise) and covers all expenses, including the cost of the police investigation. Cléante returns the stolen casket to his father. Ultimately, everyone is happily united, while Harpagon is left perfectly content, remaining alone with his beloved gold.
Cast
Louis de Funès: Harpagon
Franck Cabot-David: Cléante
Hervé Bellon: Valère
Michel Galabru: Maître Jacques
Georges Audoubert: Anselme
Claude Gensac: Frosine
Claire Dupray: Élise, Miser's daughter
Anne Caudry: Marianne, Cléante's girlfriend
Bernard Menez: La Flèche, Cléante's valet
Henri Génès: the commissioner
Michel Modo: la Merluche, Harpagon's attendant
Guy Grosso: Brindavoine, Harpagon's attendant
Max Montavon: Maître Simon
Micheline Bourday: Dame Claude, the housemaid
Madeleine Barbulée: Marianne's mother
Reception
The film is rated 70% Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes.
