Xavier Giannoli's acclaimed opera drama Marguerite on digital in July
8 June 2016
1921: not far from Paris, a party is being held at the famous Marguerite Dumont’s mansion. Nobody knows much about the mysterious Marguerite except that she has devoted her whole life to her passion: music. As she takes centre stage, she sings enthusiastically but terribly out of tune. When a provocative young journalist decides to write a rave review of her latest performance, Marguerite starts to believe even further in her talent. This gives her the courage she needs to follow her dream: to perform in front of a crowd of complete strangers.
Marguerite is inspired by the life of Florence Foster Jenkins – who was the focus of Stephen Frears’s film of the same name starring Meryl Streep, which explored the real life of the singer. Director Xavier Giannoli was instantly intrigued when he heard a recording of Jenkins’s singing on the radio. After carrying out much research on the real character, he wrote a fictional script transposing the story to 1920s France, a pivotal time and place for both artistic and personal freedom. He said: “I love characters that are single-minded and obsessive by nature. They carry the whole film along with their personality and give it tension, pace and perspective. Marguerite is living her passion: she experiences the joys and the suffering that go hand in hand with a life dedicated to music. She sings completely out of tune yet she expresses a furious desire.”
Marguerite is a touching and light-hearted feast for the ears and features a powerhouse central performance from Catherine Frot. A runaway success in its native France, and featuring music from Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi, Marguerite will live in your heart long after the credits roll. After its acclaimed world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival, Marguerite proved a critical and commercial success in France, with more than one million admissions to date.
Following its theatrical release here in the UK, Marguerite will be released on digital download on 18th July 2016 from Picturehouse Entertainment. Those who prefer their movies on Blu-ray and DVD are going to be out of luck here, as no disc version has so far been announced.
