The French movie La reine Margot was shown in the U.S. with the translated title Queen Margot (1994). Patrice Chéreau directed the movie. Many of the events we see are historical facts, but the film is adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas. Dumas was aware that historical accuracy doesn't sell novels--violence, sex, and intrigue sell novels. Violence, sex, and intrigue are definitely in evidence in this movie. (Note that apparently several different DVD versions of Queen Margot are available. We saw the 144 minute version.)
Isabelle Adjani portrays Marguerite de Valois, called Queen Margot. Daniel Auteuil portrays Henri of Navarre, Margot's husband. Vincent Perez plays Magot's true love, Joseph de la Môle. In an important supporting role, Virna Lisi brilliantly portrays Catherine de Medici, Margot's mother.
This movie has impressive production values with (literally) a cast of thousands. Dozens of handsome people fill the screen. Sometimes they wear clothes, sometimes not. All of this works well for a historical drama. What didn't work for me was the graphic scenes during and after the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre.
The massacre was a true genocide, as the film makes clear. However, for me the killings and the corpses were just too much. We expect violence in a historical drama, but we don't need to see almost 15 minutes of it.
Another problem I had was in following the plot and sorting out the characters. Adjani as Margot was unmistakable. So was Auteuil as Henri. However, there must have been a dozen handsome guys with long hair who played major supporting roles. Who was the good guy? Who was the bad guy? Who was the good guy who became a bad guy and who was the bad guy who became a good guy? Hard to say.
The historical Margot was 19 when she was married. Isabelle Adjani looks 19, so that wasn't a problem. The strange thing is that Adjani was 39(!) when she played the role. Adjani was born in 1955. The film was made in 1994. No matter how many times I did the math, it always came out the same. I think she is a Martian.
This movie was meant for the large screen and, indeed, it was recently shown in the wonderful Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. We saw it on DVD, where it worked well enough. The reason we didn't go to the Dryden is that you can't fast forward a movie in a theater. We used fast forward for the massacre, and that was effective.
So, if you like historical dramas starring beautiful ageless actors, and you can tolerate sustained scenes of violence, this movie will work for you. If not, probably better to stay away.
P.S. On our DVD player, the violent massacre lasted from the 47-minute point to the 60-minute point. It was at 47 minutes that we hit fast forward.
Isabelle Adjani portrays Marguerite de Valois, called Queen Margot. Daniel Auteuil portrays Henri of Navarre, Margot's husband. Vincent Perez plays Magot's true love, Joseph de la Môle. In an important supporting role, Virna Lisi brilliantly portrays Catherine de Medici, Margot's mother.
This movie has impressive production values with (literally) a cast of thousands. Dozens of handsome people fill the screen. Sometimes they wear clothes, sometimes not. All of this works well for a historical drama. What didn't work for me was the graphic scenes during and after the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre.
The massacre was a true genocide, as the film makes clear. However, for me the killings and the corpses were just too much. We expect violence in a historical drama, but we don't need to see almost 15 minutes of it.
Another problem I had was in following the plot and sorting out the characters. Adjani as Margot was unmistakable. So was Auteuil as Henri. However, there must have been a dozen handsome guys with long hair who played major supporting roles. Who was the good guy? Who was the bad guy? Who was the good guy who became a bad guy and who was the bad guy who became a good guy? Hard to say.
The historical Margot was 19 when she was married. Isabelle Adjani looks 19, so that wasn't a problem. The strange thing is that Adjani was 39(!) when she played the role. Adjani was born in 1955. The film was made in 1994. No matter how many times I did the math, it always came out the same. I think she is a Martian.
This movie was meant for the large screen and, indeed, it was recently shown in the wonderful Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. We saw it on DVD, where it worked well enough. The reason we didn't go to the Dryden is that you can't fast forward a movie in a theater. We used fast forward for the massacre, and that was effective.
So, if you like historical dramas starring beautiful ageless actors, and you can tolerate sustained scenes of violence, this movie will work for you. If not, probably better to stay away.
P.S. On our DVD player, the violent massacre lasted from the 47-minute point to the 60-minute point. It was at 47 minutes that we hit fast forward.