Plot: A French noblewoman must choose between love and duty.
This is an excellent if over-long film based on an old novella by Madame de La Fayette and set in the ultra-bloody 16th century Wars of Religion. Whilst the director (Tavernier) has said that he is exploring the way in which women during this period were treated as chattel, the source material actually offers a much more interesting theme. The novella and this story is really an excellent moral fable about the need for a noblewoman to place duty above feelings; it becomes a tragedy when she chooses love (really lust) instead, thereby destroying her marriage and her mentor. What's particularly nice is how the characters confound cliché: the husband in the arranged marriage might be weak but he's also good-hearted and tries to make the marriage work; the clever mentor who falls in love with her accepts that his duty means he must suppress his emotions; the foppish prince actually proves to be the most sensible character; and the dashing lover turns out to be a cad with only one thing on his mind. The acting, costumes and photography are all excellent but at nearly two and a half hours the film is far too long. It also assumes a level of historical knowledge that not all audiences will have (if you don't know who Admiral Coligny is, get reading). Finally, whilst it starts with a corking action scene (which isn't typical), the later battle scenes are small, confusing and badly choreographed.
This is an excellent if over-long film based on an old novella by Madame de La Fayette and set in the ultra-bloody 16th century Wars of Religion. Whilst the director (Tavernier) has said that he is exploring the way in which women during this period were treated as chattel, the source material actually offers a much more interesting theme. The novella and this story is really an excellent moral fable about the need for a noblewoman to place duty above feelings; it becomes a tragedy when she chooses love (really lust) instead, thereby destroying her marriage and her mentor. What's particularly nice is how the characters confound cliché: the husband in the arranged marriage might be weak but he's also good-hearted and tries to make the marriage work; the clever mentor who falls in love with her accepts that his duty means he must suppress his emotions; the foppish prince actually proves to be the most sensible character; and the dashing lover turns out to be a cad with only one thing on his mind. The acting, costumes and photography are all excellent but at nearly two and a half hours the film is far too long. It also assumes a level of historical knowledge that not all audiences will have (if you don't know who Admiral Coligny is, get reading). Finally, whilst it starts with a corking action scene (which isn't typical), the later battle scenes are small, confusing and badly choreographed.