"Mistral's Daughter" (1984) TV mini-series

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Directors:

Kevin Connor
Douglas Hickox

Writers:

Judith Krantz (novel)
Terence Feely (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

14 October 1985 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Beautiful and naïve Maggy Lunel arrives in Paris completely broke. She becomes an artist's model and the toast of Paris...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Artist | Nazi | Model | France

Cast

Stefanie Powers	...	Maggy Lunel
Lee Remick	...	Kate Browning
Stacy Keach	...	Julien Mistral
Robert Urich	...	Jason Darcy
Timothy Dalton	...	Perry Kilkullen
Stéphane Audran	...	Paula Deslandes
Ian Richardson	...	Adrien Avigdor
Stephanie Dunnam	...	Teddy Lunel
Cotter Smith	...	Frank
Pierre Malet	...	Eric Avigdor
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu	...	Fauve
Alexandra Stewart	...	Mary Jane Kilkullen
Joanna Lumley	...	Lally Longbridge
Caroline Langrishe
Jonathan Hyde

Runtime:

390 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Mistral's Daughter Productions

Soundtrack:

Aber die Liebe bleibt

Lavish eye-candy entertainment

A cozy up to the fire kind of flick for a rainy day blubber-fest. The "mistral" a wild, hot wind that blows for weeks in parts of Greece and Italy, this epic tale blows likewise, with the fiery passion of a true "romantic". Yes, Stephanie Powers is probably the only woman who could have pulled off the age span, and she does it very well.

But once Timothy Dalton took over the screen all else paled. Talk about wild and hot, this man could make any woman burn! When Dalton leaves the stage the movie begins to go downhill for those of us who love to look at that gorgeous face! If Judith Krantz knew T.D. would have been playing him, I would like to think she would have kept him around longer. But alas, the plot did not, so to speak. My enthusiasm began to wane even though the heroine's life didn't.

Mistral himself comes off as what he is, an egocentric, artistic cad, well done by Stacey Keach. You do begin to despise the man. Loved the story, and the scenery was breath-taking enough to make me want to hop a plane for France, just to travel the countryside and see what Krantz saw when she wrote it.

The artworks depicted in the film were striking, and one could almost believe to find them in some gallery in New York or Chicago. All in all, a chick-flick, but one worth re-visiting on a lonely day.