# Marguerite (2015 film)

Marguerite is a 2015 French-language comedy-drama film directed by Xavier Giannoli and written by Giannoli and Marcia Romano, loosely inspired by the life of Florence Foster Jenkins. The film is an international co-production among France, the Czech Republic, and Belgium. Marguerite received eleven nominations at the 41st César Awards, winning for Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, and Best Production Design.

## Plot

Set in the Golden Twenties, the film stars Catherine Frot as a wealthy woman who is an enthusiastic amateur singer and believes, wrongly, that she has a beautiful voice.

## Cast

* Catherine Frot as Marguerite Dumont
* André Marcon as Georges Dumont
* Denis Mpunga as Madelbos
* Michel Fau as Atos Pezzini / Divo
* Christa Theret as Hazel Klein
* Astrid Whettnall as Françoise Bellaire
* Sylvain Dieuaide as Lucien Beaumont
* Aubert Fenoy as Kyrill Von Priest
* Sophia Leboutte as Félicité La Barbue
* Théo Cholbi as Diego

## Production

The film was shot in Prague from mid-September to early December 2014 (from September 15 to November 19).

## Release

Marguerite was screened in the main competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.

## Reception
### Critical response

The film was well received by the critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 95%, based on 110 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Touching, funny, and thoughtful, Marguerite honors its real-life inspiration with a well-acted and ultimately inspirational look at the nature of art and the value of a dream." On Metacritic the film has a score of 76 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Screendaily described the film as "original, funny and touching". Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the film "offers up an amusingly entertaining portrait of fortune, infamy and severe melodic dysfunction". Cineuropa gave the film a positive review, and said that the director "has brought together the best of his sensitivity and attraction to characters that are passionate and obsessive to the extreme, to paint the portrait of an unusual woman, who Catherine Frot plays with stunning dramatic and comical genius".

### Accolades

| Award / Film Festival | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
| César Awards | Best Film | | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Director | Xavier Giannoli | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Actress | Catherine Frot | Won |
| César Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Michel Fau | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Supporting Actor | André Marcon | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Xavier Giannoli | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Cinematography | Glynn Speeckaert | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Editing | Cyril Nakache | Nominated |
| César Awards | Best Sound | François Musy and Gabriel Hafner | Won |
| César Awards | Best Costume Design | Pierre-Jean Larroque | Won |
| César Awards | Best Production Design | Martin Kurel | Won |
| Louis Delluc Prize | Best Film | | Nominated |
| Lumières Awards | Best Film | | Nominated |
| Lumières Awards | Best Director | Xavier Giannoli | Nominated |
| Lumières Awards | Best Actress | Catherine Frot | Won |
| Lumières Awards | Best Screenplay | Xavier Giannoli | Nominated |
| Magritte Awards | Best Foreign Film in Coproduction | | Nominated |
| Venice International Film Festival | Golden Lion | | Nominated |
| Venice International Film Festival | P. Nazareno Taddei Award | | Won |