Customer Reviews

Queen Margot (La Reine Margot) (1994 Film)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For anyone with an eclectic taste in music who needs a change from endless Mozart, Handel, Bach et al, this is a very welcome and refreshing recording. The beautiful introduction and closing
song by Ofra Haza is worth the price of the CD alone. Why "Elo Hi" did not hit the top of the pop charts the way "Pie Jesu" did must only be due to marketing.

I first heard this music when I caught the film "La Reine Margot" on TV. Although the film was excellent, it was just a little too gory, but oh, the music! It evoked childhood memories of visiting Russian churches and also recalled to mind the magnificent "Ivan the Terrible". This was the first time I had even heard of the composer Goran Bregovic, which is not surprising as music in the US is dominated by pop and country. Finding a station playing classical or other is very difficult and dependent on where one lives. The classical section of the music stores consists of Charlotte Church, Andea Bocelli and a few vintage recordings of works by 18th and 19th century composers.

I would recommend this recording to anyone who enjoys the singing of Ofra Haza, and who does not consider that classical music was only written in western Europe.

Well, I love his music since I was a child. His Band "Bijelo Dugme" made for a very long time the best Yugoslawian music. And still he is the best . This Album, without watching a movie at the same time,is not soooo god, but it is still very possible to feel HIS sound. He is Goran Bregovic, and for us is this name a legend. The real name of Dalmatian song is actually "U Te San Se Zajubija". It is a dialect from Dalmatia!

As this is a soundtrack to a movie one definetely needs to go to the nearest Blockbuster and see it first. And see it again, just to understand it. If ever there was a European movie (besides Betty Blue) this is it! And if ever there was a European soundtrack - this is it! Bregovic is a genius miner of musical heritage of the continent, or rather of his home country - former Yugoslavia. And what jewels he brought us! Some of the songs worked so well that I never realized that I was watching a French movie (the book was written by Alexander Dumas) with traditional Croatian music in the background. Or a synthesis of Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian tunes. David Bowie put it best:"The end of twentieth century is about juxtaposition of information." And look what comes out when You do it right. But, besides all this - this is just fantastic music from a great composer and skilled craftsman that was lucky to have happened to live in a great place at a great time.

the recently released Directors cut-though I speak no French
I have the shorter subtitled version- so I know the gist of the story

My favorite piece was the massacre piece-brass leaps out at you at in 3 sharp short attacks-and hear is the sound of a scraping knife or sword

On the surface, this may seem like a costume drama for late night viewing. BUT, it is historically dead on!!
Virna Lisi as Catherine de Medici and the musical soundtrack by Goran Bregovic are real bonuses. Any future edition of this fine production with English dubbing would be sad indeed.

....and, at the end, who cares? Rednecks from former Yugoslavia beware....no one cares about dialetcs, traditional this or that, all people are interested in is - the fabulous music Bregovic wrote! In his music he has entwined the best of Bosnian, Serbian, Macedonian, Gypsy, Croatian, Montenegrian ..... music. What he has done with his well known "old" tracks in this movie was to accommodate them to the very strong nature of a historical theme in a 16th century set up, but many who know his music since his early years, will unmistakeably recognise the original melody base. Also, people interested in this kind of music - google please! You don't need to call everything you don't understand - French!

When I first heard this soundtrack, I was sitting in a movie theater in Paris, watching: "La Reine Margot" (or The Bloody Mary) in French. I thought that the story line, based on historical facts, was intriguing, however, I enjoyed the culture expressed throughout the film, most of all. I don't particularly care for hard-core authentic French music with the accordians, etc, however, this French composer made a fantastic work of art with this soundtrack. The rendition of the hallelujah chorus (track 11) was the most fantastic one I had ever heard. It beats that of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, ten-fold. It is also recorded from within the walls of the Notre Dame itself, so the historical significance makes it even more exciting. I would recommend the movie- for it's content, photography, acting and plot. I would recommend the soundtrack for it's brilliance overall. Even if you don't speak French!

I know a lot about this artist, because we speak the same language, and it's not French, I'm sure. If you just listen to his soundtrack for a Custurica's movie "Underground", you should know what I ment when I said that this album is boring. We ca forgive Goran for this failure, because it was one of his first aperances abroad, so he intended to put all his past work on this album. For example, the song "U te san se zajubia" is traditional song from Dalmatia (Croatia), but it is not arranged in any way, as we can find it on CD, because it is perfoemed in the same traditional way as always, by tarditional Dalamtian chorus called "Klapa". Vocals are something that is realy boring on this album, because they sound so commercial, esspecialy Ofra Haza, who is there, it seems to me, just to prove Goran's relations with some well known foreign performers. Newer the less Goran is an outstending composer when he writes his music inspired whit the Gypsy's influencis on balkan music. Check out album "Ederlezi"...