La Reine Margot
| 1994 Drama / Romance |  |
Credits Director:
Patrice
Chéreau
Script: Patrice Chéreau, Pierre Trividic and Danièle Thompson Photo: Eric Gautier Cast: Isabelle Adjani (Margot), Daniel Auteuil (Henri de Navarre), Jean-Hugues Anglade (Charles IX), Vincent Perez (La Môle), Virna Lisi (Catherine de Medici), Pascal Greggory, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi Runtime: 144 min Aka: Queen Margot Summary Paris, August, 1572 - a troubled time in the history
of France, a country torn by wars and religious strife. To appease
the Protestants, the queen mother, Catherine Medici, arranges a marriage
between her daughter, Margot, and the King of Navarre, Henri. However,
this fails to prevent a massacre of the French Protestants, the Huguenots,
by the Catholics. What follows is a series of murders, attempted
murders and political manoeuvrings in which Henri of Navarre is forced
to flee from Paris and the king of France is killed. Meanwhile, Margot
finds a secret lover to take the place of the husband she cannot love.
Review La
Reine Margot is an impressive historical drama, which distinguishes
itself from earlier films of the genre by being far more graphic when it
comes to depicting the violence of the time. The St Barthlomew’s
Eve massacre is covered in gruesomely thorough detail, with some horrific
butchery on display. In this respect, the film goes perhaps further
than it should. The violence has the effect of undermining the dramatic
impact and serves mainly to titillate or shock. The same applies
to Adjani’s steamy scenes with Pérez. The overall effect is
circus, not theatre, and the film’s quality suffers as a result.
The film succeeds primarily as a result of director Patrice Chéreau’s incredible attention to detail. He creates a 16th century France that is frightening in its realism, a land soaked in terror, hunger and filth. There are some creditable performances from Auteuil, Adjani and Pérez. However it is Virna Lisi who shines most brightly as the venomous but tragically flawed Catherine de Medici. © James Travers 1999 |
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