Moliere

I recommend this movie. We didn't know anything about Moliere, and just rented the movie to see what 17th century France looked like, but we saw much more than that. The Moliere buff(s) among you (only you know who you are) already know that Moliere wrote comic plays that reveal our nature (but I repeat myself), and apparently this movie about his life was made in the style of his plays. Fun and profound, the movie makes me want to read one of his plays, in English translation, of course. Added bonus -- the actors' faces are so expressive that you could probably catch the movie's gist even without the English subtitles.