The Miser

Harpagon has buried his money in the garden and thinks about it day and night. He has two children: his son has secretly run into debt, and his daughter wants to marry the steward rather than the old man her father has chosen. Harpagon, meanwhile, plans to marry the young woman his son loves. Then his box is stolen. The subject is not miserliness but how money leaves a man alone. Harpagon believes everyone is a thief and therefore cannot speak to anybody; when he finally loses the box, his cry is that of a man who has lost a person. The form comes from the stage and does not hide it: the sets read as sets, the actors turn to the audience, and the lines are spoken in the language of the period. The source is Molière's play of 1668. Louis de Funès had wanted the part for a long time and co-directed the film with Jean Girault, becoming the director of his own film for the first time. The character overlaps with his known type: on the point of exploding, mean, and exhausting to everyone around him. It did well in France while critics found it too tied to the stage. Michel Galabru and Claude Gensac are in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like Molière adaptations and de Funès' comedy of rage. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a cinematic adaptation; the film leaves the play almost intact and the camera does little.