From Patrice Leconte's 1996 masterpiece, Ridicule, the final mask ball scene when Ponceludon (Charles Berling) was tripped, ridiculed, and yet turned the table around with a powerful speech that indicts all around who subscribe to that system of courtly chicanery and rule of the "wit," revealing its callousness, cruelty, and essential hollowness.
This speech is so sincere and potent that to me it really unmasks this cruel system as becoming essentially its very own ridicule. Madam de Blayac's (the wonderful Fanny Ardant) facial expression was just perfect in revealing that despairing hollowness and sadness beneath the pomp and fearsome exterior of sharp biting wit.
With entrancing music, silly French dance, and of course Berling's perfect delivery of that powerful speech, this is one of my favourite moments of the movie and I found it profoundly moving... "You envy Voltaire's wit. He would have wept... He was ridiculously compassionate..."
Ridicule is a true gem. Besides the awesome Berling and Ardent, Jean Rochefort was also superb, as always.
Obviously I don't own any of this clip... it's my first experiment with videos.
