Tartuffe, a fraudster posing as a religious devotee, has gained the trust of Orgon, an older, wealthy man. Orgon has completely fallen under the influence of Tartuffe, whom he considers his spiritual master, and plans to have him marry his daughter Mariane. Tartuffe aims to seize Orgon's property and also tries to seduce his wife Elmire.
Orgon's maid Dorine, his son Damis, Elmire, and Valère, a young man in love with Mariane, try to thwart Tartuffe and expose his deceit.
Tartuffe's schemes eventually seem to succeed and he prepares to have Orgon and his family evicted after appropriating their home; but the King's police intervenes to reveal his crimes and arrest him. Having come to his senses, Orgon consents Valère to marry Mariane.
In 1984, Depardieu performed Tartuffe at the National Theatre of Strasbourg, under Jacques Lassalle's direction. The actor decided to make a filmed version of the play, which became his first film as a director.[2]
Reception
While a high-profile production, the staging of Tartuffe at the National Theatre of Strasbourg had received rather poor reviews at the time. The film's reception was equally disappointing, and it failed to make an impact at the box-office.[2] Depardieu only returned to directing 15 years later, with the film The Bridge.
Time Out commented that "Depardieu's directorial debut is difficult to assess, since it is little more than a long, sombre and stately record of the Molière play", though the review praised the performances.[3] A later review on the French website critique-film.fr commented that due to Depardieu's directing choices, the film ended up being neither actual cinema nor really filmed theatre, and that it suffered from a general coldness that erased the humor of Molière's original play.[4]
