IN a French chateau, a small instrumental group accompanies soprano Hazel (Christa Theret) flawlessly performing a classical song.

Hold on to that experience as you watch writer/director Xavier Giannoli’s fictional facsimile of a notable American lady (of whom more below). Marguerite, Baroness Dumont, has the money; her husband Georges (Andre Marcon) has the title. When she indulges her passion for singing, her audience of selected friends generously shields her from the awful truth. Her singing is dreadful. And Georges so loves her (or is it perhaps her money?) that he works hard to protect her from discovering her secret.

Catherine Frot gives a sublime performance as Marguerite in a powerful film that combines strong drama, gentle comedy, shameful exploitation by most of the characters of a woman unaware that she’s being exploited, a convincing replication of 1920s place and social and cultural classes and an enduring love between Marguerite and Georges.

The supporting cast is top-grade. Notable is African actor Denis Mpunga as Madelbos, Marguerite’s major domo, chauffeur, accompanist, party planner and personal photographer. Madelbos has his reasons. And they are not all meritorious.

Neither are the motives for overweight tenor Pezzini (Michel Fau) whose Pagliaci is not doing well, who is happy to accept an engagement to prepare Marguerite to perform before a public audience.

Giannoli’s film comes two weeks ahead of Stephen Frears’ bio-pic in which Meryl Streep plays Florence Foster Jenkins, the real-life inspiration for Marguerite.

At Palace Electric