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Delusions of Grandeur (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Delusions of Grandeur' is a 1971 French comedy film directed by Grard Oury. It is a comedic adaptation of the play 'Ruy Blas' by Victor Hugo.
Plot
In 17th century Spain, Don Salluste (Louis de Funs) works as a dishonest and greedy minister of finances who is strongly disliked by the peasants. After being fired by the Queen (Karin Schubert) over allegations he illegitimately fathered a child with a royal handmaid, Salluste plots to get his revenge by compromising the Queen by getting a nobleman to seduce her, which would anger the King (Alberto de Mendoza). However, when Don Csar (Gabriele Tinti), Salluste's noble relative, declines to help him, Salluste hires his valet, Blaze (Yves Montand), who he introduces as Don Csar; he sells the real Csar into slavery in the Barbary Coast. Though the Queen is willing to enter a relationship with "Csar", Salluste's plans are unintentionally obstructed by Dona Juana (Alice Sapritch), an old duanna who is infatuated with Blaze, much to his chagrin.
Blaze takes Salluste's former position as minister of finances. However, unlike Salluste, Blaze is much more generous and institutes many reforms: he gives almost all of Salluste's riches to the peasants, and heavily taxes the rich instead of the poor. This makes Blaze the target of ire among the nobles, who attempt to assassinate him. Salluste learns of a plot to poison Blaze's cake at his birthday celebration in a villa; Salluste warns Blaze of this, and the two fight their way out, evading their pursuers by trapping them in a bullfighting ring. However, upon escaping, Salluste captures Blaze. Meanwhile, in the Barbary Coast, the real Csar is working as a slave for a Bedouin chief, pushing a wheel alongside other slaves to water the chief's potted plant. Using the Bedouins' prayers as a distraction, Csar escapes and travels back to Spain, where he watches Salluste take Blaze captive.
After using a (very uncooperative) parrot to relay an invitation to the Queen (and also unintentionally Dona Juana), Salluste imprisons Blaze in his villa, where he explains his new plan: he will bring the Queen to the room, knock both of them out, leave them in bed together, and call the King to investigate. Csar locates the villa and confronts Blaze; the two work together to thwart Salluste. Dona Juana arrives and attempts to seduce Blaze, but she drinks a laced cup of wine and is rendered unconscious; later, the Queen also arrives, but Salluste knocks her out with chloroform. After encountering several issues involving the occupants of the bed, Salluste manages to get Blaze and the Queen in bed together.
The King and his guards arrive, having been called over by Salluste earlier. However, when Salluste leads the King into the bedroom, he is shocked to find that instead of the Queen, Blaze is in bed with Dona Juana. Blaze secretly helped Csar escape with the Queen, and they fall in love.
The King, angered at Salluste, orders his guards to capture him. However, he offers Blaze a choice: marry Dona Juana and remain free, or join Salluste in captivity. Blaze chooses the latter, and the two are sentenced to slavery in the Barbary Coast, under the same Bedouin chief from before. Though Salluste and Blaze are apparently content with their life as slaves, Blaze sees Dona Juana in the distance and realizes she has followed him to the Barbary Coast. The film ends with everyone laughing as Blaze flees into the desert, Dona Juana chasing after him.
Cast
* Louis de Funs - Don Salluste de Bazan
* Yves Montand - Blaze
* Alice Sapritch - Dona Juana - la dugne
* Karin Schubert - La Reine / The Queen
* Alberto de Mendoza - Le Roi / The King
* Jaime de Mora y Aragn - Un Grand d'Espagne
* Eduardo Fajardo - Un Grand d'Espagne
* Antonio Pica - Un Grand d'Espagne
* Joaqun Sols - Un Grand d'Espagne
* Venantino Venantini - Del Basto
* Gabriele Tinti - Don Cesar
* Paul Prboist - The mute
* Sal Borgese - Le borgne
Release
The English version of the film was released by Synkronized USA.
References
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