Queen Margot (La Reine Margot)
by Patrice Chéreau
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DVD details
Actor: Daniel Auteuil, Isabelle Adjani, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Vincent Perez, Virna LisiDirector: Patrice Chéreau
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Writer: Patrice Chéreau
Producer: Carsten Meyer-Grohbrügge
Producer: Claude Berri
Producer: Paulo Trancoso
Producer: Pierre Grunstein
Writer: Alexandre Dumas père
Writer: Danièle Thompson
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 144 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
DVD Reviews of Queen Margot (La Reine Margot)
DVD Review: Ridiculous Soap Opera with Grade A Actors; Good for a Laugh or Two
Summary: 2 Stars
Maybe that's what Dumas meant to write, a historical soap opera but I can't imagine the book being this ridiculous and sensationalist. The fact that Patrice Chereau is President of La Fémis, France's most prestigious film school just goes to show how little that title means. But then that title does mean that he's an establishment man through and through and this is France's establishment cinema version of a Hollywood type historical epic funded by the same men behind the men behind the men that control all big productions for the dual purpose of mass propaganda and profit. Adjani started with Truffaut and got famous enough to end up here (and in that crappy remake of Diabolique with Sharon Stone in the actual Hollywood) and though Truffaut never had a budget like this or wanted it he was 10 times the filmmaker that Chereau is.
Where do we start? Let's start with some of the sensationalism meant to sell tickets. Chereau must be a feminist for sure since "Queen Margot" has more male frontal nudity than female. Women who want to see Vincent Perez flash his schlong into the camera gratuitously not once but twice (the first time, a total surprise, while being undressed by Adjani and Dominique Blanc after he's been attacked into a bloody mess! You see it's not gratuitous, they're only doing it to ease his pain and make him more comfortable, that's why he turns around completely towards the camera in his writhing pain so all can see!) should definitely watch this flick. I cracked up when they almost had Daniel Auteuil flash into the camera too but at the last moment there's a cut and he appears covered in diapers since his character is supposed to be not really a sex symbol or romantic interest but more of a friendly goofball victim. Maybe Chereau was getting his back against the demands of the producers for nudity by turning the film into a comedy? Who knows? Men get to see much less of Isabelle Adjani (or the fabulous Asia Argento playing Auteuil's mistress) but then the best place for that is the "Violent Summer" film (a much better film than Queen Margot, by the way) she did which became a huge hit in France precisely because she was naked in it a lot.
As a matter of course, the entire movie was cynically calculated for the exact amount of sensationalist or titillating scenes to 'entertain' the audience as mindlessly as possible and sell more tickets. It is watchable once and not quite as bad as a Hollywood film only because of the caliber of the actors. The performances are excellent all around, especially those of Adjani, Virna Lisi, Dominique Blanc and Auteuil but they don't have much depth either written or directed to work with or towards. Adjani plays the heroine as an air-head nymphomaniac slowly developing depth and understanding and cunning and a lesser actress could have easily overplayed her part into too much melodrama on top of the entire melodramatic tone of the film, making it that much worse. Instead her restraint and approach makes the film better than it deserves to be. The same applies to Auteuil and Lisi and to a slightly lesser extent to Perez and the rest of the cast. Lots of nasty power-hungry people going around intriguing to poison and kill each other. Lots of violence and blood and heads being chopped off and animals being killed and women being thrown out of windows. Wonderful movie for the kids, especially the massacre of the 60 protestant nobles in one night and the last scene with the two bloody beheaded heads on the table with Margot calmly stroking one of them on the cheek. If violence is ok with your family and only sex is censored then only one of the sex scenes contains hard humping against a street wall and the others are very loving and romantic and pretty much missionary style. In France they might rate this as PG-13 but in the USA it is definitely R. Also, I might add that the pseudo-new-age music with the ocassional soft hip-hop or house beat was laughable and completely inappropriate for a historical film. Thank god they didn't use it much or it would have sent the flick into unwatchable territory. It's hilarious that the music is actually praised!
The DVD had a decent but not spectacular transfer and no extra features. Overall this film is good to watch if you want to see great actors make the best of mediocre material and don't want anything deeper than what an episode of Dynasty would deliver to munch your pop corn to and relax. Otherwise for a great Dumas-based film go back and watch Richard Lester's original Three Musketeers again.
Description of Queen Margot (La Reine Margot)
Queen margot will capture video audiences everywhere with an intriguing plot of forbidden love betrayal revenge and murder. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 01/04/2005 Starring: Isabella Adiani Daniel Auteuil Run time: 143 minutes Rating: RBased on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, Queen Margot concerns the events behind infamous Massacre of St. Bartholomew in 16th-century France. Isabelle Adjani plays Margot, betrothed for political reasons to one man (Daniel Auteuil) by her mother (Virna Lisi), while she is, in fact, in love with another (Vincent Pérez). Despite the bond that grows between the reluctant couple, plots are hatching all over the castle against the royals. Adventurous, exciting, erotic, and given strong artistic credibility through its outstanding cast, the film is enthralling and visually sumptuous. Directed by Patrice Chereau, less known outside of France than is the film's producer, Claude Berri (director of Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring). --Tom Keogh
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