Customer Reviews

Queen Margot ( La Reine Margot ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(74)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Based upon a romantic work of historical fiction by Alexandre Dumas, "Marguerite De Valois", this is yet another triumphant period piece by Miramax Films. Critically acclaimed, the film is the winner of five Cesar Awards, as well as the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize.

The film is set in medieval Catholic France during the reign of Charles IX. There has been unrest between the Catholic majority and the Protestant (Huguenot) minority. It is August 24, 1572, a day that will live in infamy. The day begins auspiciously enough, as it is the wedding day for Margot, the sister of Charles IX. It is an arranged marriage between Catholic Margot and Protestant Henri de Bourbon, the King of Navarre, a province in France. It is a marriage that is supposed to quell the unrest between these two warring religions. As such, many Protestants travel to Paris to see the union between these two royal personages.

After the wedding, the evil and power hungry Dowager Queen, Catherine de Medici, mother to Charles IX and his two younger brothers, Anjou and Alencon, as well as Margot, sets in motion a series of intrigues and plots and reveals what her true motives were in arranging this marriage, motives that the King of Navarre already suspects. Far from being a merger to unite Catholics and Protestants, it is a call to arms against the Protestants, resulting in the infamous St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, in which over six thousand unsuspecting Protestant men, women, and children were brutally slain.

Margot, who initially dislikes her husband and is known for her wantonness, does make a pact with him to be his ally. When the carnage begins she is appalled but is soon drawn into her family's plots and intrigues. She realizes, however, that her survival, as well as that of her husband, depends upon her new lover, La Mole, son of Coligny, the King's slain advisor. Thereafter, Catherine de Medici continues to plot against the King of Navarre, seeking his death. Margot spends most of the film trying to keep her mother and brothers in check and her husband safe, while satisfying herself with La Mole.

Isabelle Adjani is stunning in the role of Margot. Luminous and looking ethereally beautiful, she is simply magnificent. Daniel Auteuil is terrific as the beleaguered King of Navarre. He infuses the role with a warmth and humanity that makes the viewer instinctively root for him. Jean-Hugues Anglade is excellent as Charles IX, a weak king dominated by his ruthless, grasping mother who would rather see her favorite son, Anjou, on the throne. Anglade makes the role three dimensional as he adds a certain sensitivity to the role. Pascal Greggory, who plays Anjou, adds a certain delicious creepiness to the role of the envious younger brother who longs for his brother's death so that he can wear the crown. Virna Lisi is a commanding presence as the evil Catherine de Medici, who would willingly sacrifice her children for power and see so many of her plans go awry. Last but not least, Vincent Perez is excellent as handsome and loyal La Mole.

Potential viewers of this French language film should be aware that it is an extremely violent film, due to the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. It is also sexually explicit, with frontal nudity scenes. Moreover, while the DVD provides wide screen format, excellent audio and visuals, as well as scene selections and subtitles, it does not offer any extras. Notwithstanding this, the film is one that all those who enjoy period films or historical fiction will, undoubtedly, enjoy.

Queen Margot is one of the more beautiful french films you are likely to see - right up there with Tous Les Matins du Monde and La Belle Noiseuse. The story is well executed, the direction excellent, the acting top notch, the actors all exquisitely beautiful, the art departments are spectacular and the lighting and cinematography are outstanding. So why on earth did Miramax decide to put out such a horribly bad DVD transfer of this glorious film? From the opening credits, the amount of digital artifacting in the blacks is horrific - the frames literally freeze when there is no movement on screen - the audio is hollow and without depth - and picture detailing is washed out. Now, you will likely get used to these appalling bad choices on the part of the distribution company who decided to save a few bucks on a decent DVD encoding and still get wrapped up in the stunningly beautiful Isabelle Adajani (who was over 40 at the time of this film's lensing!) and the truly compelling storytelling going on in this film. However, it's just such a disappointment to see a company reknown for it's sensitivity to the "art film" genre make such a crassly ignorant decision as this one. Let's all hope that Criterion decides to honor this truly deserving film with a DVD transfer worthy of it's filmmakers. 5 stars for the film and 0 stars for the DVD itself = 3 stars overall - worth renting for those who haven't seen it, worth owning for those of us who love it and for those who can live without, wait until a proper DVD is put out!

Alexandre Dumas was among the first writers of fantasy fiction. He and Victor Hugo pioneered the serial novel. Here's the formula: take a simple hisotrical fact, for example - that Henri III succeeded Charles IX, son of Catherine de Medici. Then let your mind go wild about what the time must have been like, with all its passions and intrigues. Poof! You have a wonderful roman feuilletee that will keep readers coming back and coming back for each installment. Reading La Reine Margot can be distracting, because Dumas was something less than perfect in the continuity department. The story, however has plenty of bones to hang an incredibly good modernized version on them. The linchpins are as old as time itself: the conflict between equally blind and uncompromizing religions, the dilemma of love vs. duty, and the trageday that attends true love. This would be pretty even in modern garb.

The production is marvelous. The sets are warm and mysterious. Isabelle Adjani captures all of the sensuality and savvy of Margueritte de Valois. The casting of a very ordinary looking Henri Navarre is brilliant. Those of us who have read the original may miss Coconnais and de la Mole as their significance is underplayed. That is OK. Both actors play the part to a "T". The Duc de Guise is as slimy as you imagine him to be, and Catherine just as evil. Indeed this is Harry Potter - the meticulous transcription of a good novel to film - for adults, and it gets an A+.

I guess you can tell how I feel about Dumas. Judge for yourself, but I doubt that very many will watch this film and walk away disappointed.

This DVD is a tremendous disappointment. My wife and I love this movie, but the nonanamorphic image is frequently blurred, over saturated, and distorted. The sound is listenable but unimpressive. In all, I would have hoped for a better presentation. Save your money. Let's hope the studios wake up and start giving us high definition ANAMORPHIC remastering on all DVD releases. This release is almost as pathetic as the hugely disappointing DVD of Europa Europa.

Queen Margot relates the events preceding and following the notorious St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (August 24, 1572). France is gripped with skirmishes between Roman Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots), leading to the doomed marriage between the royals, Catholic Margot (Adjani) and the Protestant King of Navarre, Henri (Auteuil). Following the wedding, Margot's mother, Queen Catherine de Medici, wages a Protestant slaughter in the streets of Paris and imprisons Margot and Henri. This epic history is used as a backdrop to tell the more intimate story of the coalition between Margot and her husband, as well as her relationship with her Protestant lover (Vincent Perez).

The acting, costumes, and cinematography are all first-rate. Accordingly, the movie received an Oscar nomination for best costume design, and it won 5 Cesars (the French equivalent of the Oscar), including best actress for Adjani. The director (Patrice Chéreau) succeeds brilliantly because he manages to make the film urgent, unlike most historical dramas, by focusing on the passion involved in the characters' lives. Queen Margot is also surprisingly bloody and realistic for such a picture, and the slaughter is depicted rather graphically. The only debit of the film is the overly complex and sometimes confusing political machinations that drive the narrative. However, the confused viewer should not worry about the details and enjoy the overall feel and emotion of the film. Highly recommended.

The five stars are for the movie. I give the DVD a zero. I bought this film on DVD, even though I owned the video, specifically because when I saw this in theaters the color was remarkable - I thought I'd be able to have that experience once again on DVD - I was wrong.

This is literally the worst DVD transfer I've ever seen. The pixelation is extremely high, and there is - unbelievably - a visible shifting blur over the picture. In addition, the entire color reproduction has a dull reddish cast, which I can tell you, was not intended, as I saw this movie several times in the cinema and it was completely clear and vibrant. It is not an exaggeration to say that the color is better on my VHS version. The picture clarity is also superior on the VHS, which is inexcusable.

If that's not bad enough - several scenes in the VHS release are actually CUT from the DVD.

This movie is dark, violent, bloody and gorgeous. The slaughter of the Huguenots is the backdrop for the unlikely romance between the Queen of Navarre and a Huguenot supporter. I cannot think of one miscast actor in this drama; all were superb, but special mention of Vincent Perez and Daniel Auteuil is mandatory.

Kudos also to the director for including such a unique score. The Slavic musical score is not authentic to the period, but entirely appropriate to the mood of the piece.

This film spurred me to read the Dumas novel upon which it was based "Marguerite de Valois". While the film differs in details, it captures the essence of the novel.

Do not watch this film if you cannot stomach strong stuff: blood, gore, beheadings etc. The story, however, carries interest throughout. Worth a purchase for your film library.

"Ya just can't keep a man on the throne....." That's more or less what this movie says. What a period!

The actual work [here cropped and cut] deserves well more than five stars. It reflects a quaint little period in history when, as a Royal, you didn't quite know if you'd make it through breakfast, and puberty was considered old age! Do watch out for those 'brand-named" cosmetics, lipstick labelled "poison" is exactly that - silly girl [you'll see what I mean when you reach that moment!]. There's also the Poison by the book method .....

This is a very accurate, sensual, brutal picture of that period, a necessity for any serious film-student, professional or just fan of a GOOD old historic saga. Yes, it is shown on Tv occasionally, but it's the "blinker-version" - severely cersored.

The always radiant ISABELLE ADJANI exclipses most everyone in this sad tale of the reluctant queen [to] be. There's also the befuddled Daniel Auteuil as the Victim [err husband], dashing Vincent Perez as the eveready-lover, activist, not forgetting VIRNA LISI [a welcome return] as the "greatest" Catherine de Medici [read very scheming and deadly mama] - boy! When Miss Lisi first appeared on the scene in 1965 or thereabout termed as a "late-blooming blond bombshell" in fluff movies, we had no idea! Her performance is nomination quality! A beautiful woman, she is not afraid to appear stark [kind of a Mrs. Danvers "Rebecca" meets "I, Claudius"].

It is also a great companion peice to "Elizabeth" - Kate Blanchett [same "killer wardrobe"]. D.W. Griffith "Intolerance" also touches briefly on this matter - interesting comparison.......

The movie did receive due recognition from the Academy, but its after-life deserves much more. The costume detail alone is worth a separate disc. Absolutely, a two disc DVD version [available in Europe] with missing footage restored would be great, with production detail please.

Once again, Isabelle Adjani delivers a classic performance. Only this time, so does the entire cast/supporting cast/production crew, etc. "La Reine Margot (Queen Margot)" is one of those 5-star classic films that we don't see much of anymore. This is a film that NEVER has a dull moment. Patrice Chereau didn't cut any corners in showing this extravagant (and brutal) period in French history. The plots/counter plots totally immerse the viewer, along with the meticulous attention to detail. A scene worth noting is the trail a book of falconry takes as it follows several of the lead characters. As always, Adjani and Daniel Auteuil take their roles very seriously and deliver outstanding performances. Fortunately that trait extends into the rest of the cast, especially Virna Lisi who effectively plays Catherine de Medicis. This is my all time favorite film and I could literally go on and on about it. The only complaint I have is that over 30 minutes were cut out of its original release for North American audiences. Lets hope that one day soon, a video distributor will release the full, uncut 167 minute version.

From a story by Alexander Dumas, the famous nineteenth century Afro-French writer (Count of Monte Cristo, Man in the Iron Mask, Three Musketeers, etc). I actually came upon this film only because it had Jean-Hughes Anglade from Nikita and Killing Zoe. He is wonderful but the real scene stealer is Isabelle Adjani! You would never have noticed that she was well over 38 years old when then film was made, she looks so much better than she did 16 years earlier in Herzog's Nosferatu remake. Adjani is absolutely captivating, she has a screen presence that can only be compared to the likes of Ingrid Bergman or Gong Li. If you really like her, check out Camille Claudel which is probably her only other really good film.

La Reine Margot is a luscious political adventure set around the event of the terrible true-to-life St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572. The supporting cast, including Anglade as Charles IX, and Vincent Perez as Adjani's lover La Mole, is consistently superb. If you haven't seen this, you are definitely missing out. La Reine Margot probably helped to influence the similar medieval themed queen epics Elizabeth (1998, UK) and Suriyothai (2001, Thailand), both of which should definitely be checked out if you enjoyed this one. One of the best films of the 1990s.