It was entered into the 29th Moscow International Film Festival where Fabrice Luchini won the Silver George for Best Actor.

The film begins in 1658, when the French actor and playwright returns to Paris with his theatrical troupe to perform in the theatre that the king's brother has given him.

Following an unsuccessful run as a tragic actor, Molière is released from debtor's prison by Monsieur Jourdain, a wealthy commoner with social pretensions, who agrees to pay the young actor's debts if Molière teaches him to act.

Jourdain, a married man with two daughters, hopes to use this talent to ingratiate himself with Célimène, a recently widowed aristocrat with whom he has become obsessed.

As the story progresses Molière proceeds to fall in love with Jourdain's neglected wife, Elmire.