A much-heralded French director, Patrice Leconte has been making feature films since 1975, although it was not until the late 80s and 90s that his work received international attention. His star rose considerably with the release of "Ridicule" (1996), the Oscar-nominated story of a small-time civil engineer who must learn the ins and outs of the court of Louis XVI in order to secure royal financing to drain a swamp. Ironically perhaps, it was one of the few of his 20-plus films that Leconte had not also written, but its cinematically style was all his: brisk and satiric, a soupcon of sentiment
