Angélique, 2. Teil

In this first sequel to the 1964 film "Angélique", it begins with the capture and death of one of the men responsible for the death of Angélique's husband in the prior film. You see the monk die but oddly, instead of being happy, she is rather gloomy and petulant towards her rescuers--still making demands like she is STILL the marquise. Unfortunately for our heroine, the leader of the band of criminals (Nicolas) with which she lives is killed and she is without a protector.

Now, the film takes an odd turn. She is able to get her two young sons back but instead of going back to the underworld life, she goes into business with a local inn keeper--and they are very, very successful. However, apparently Angélique isn't excessively bright, as she takes a trip to the palace using her new alias--even though in the last film the King's brother tried to have her murdered. This doesn't seem like the best place to go, huh? Angélique also meets up along with way with an odd man who is a wanted man for producing pamphlets that the King does not like. This part is played by the famous French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant and, like most French women in the 1960s, she fell in love with him. Later, with Jean-Louis' help, she comes up with a plan for killing off 12 men (including the very wicked brother of the king) for the senseless murder of a boy and the burning of her business. However, almost as soon as this plot was created, she decides to call off her vendetta because the king made amends--even though her new lover has been killed and there wasn't a whole lot they could do to bring him back! Now, she takes a new lover--the same cousin who she hated in the first film. Oddly, they have little chemistry between them and he seems like a jerk. And, when he should treat her well for being so good to him, he treats her like dirt.

At this point in the film, I really felt lost. Again and again, the film seemed to have a plot and again and again, the people involved died and the movie took an entirely different direction. Three different lovers, three different plots--and none of them seemed satisfying or consistent. In fact, although Angélique seemed smart at times, at others she was enigmatic and confusing. As a result, much of what I loved in the first film was no where to be found. It is definitely a step below the other film and hopefully I will enjoy the next one much more.

That's Angelique's route.The title of the Golon's novel was "le chemin de Versailles"(=Versailles route).And like the other movies of this famous -in France- saga,it does not do the book any justice.Once again,the Golons ' depictions were often first-class,mainly in the first chapters which dealt with the notorious "Cour des Miracles" (also depicted by Victor Hugo in "Notre-Dame de Paris" (The Hunchback of Notre-Dame)).Their work was cheapened and watered-down by the screenwriters ,giving a romantic flavor to Nicolas' character (who in the book is a crude brute),and avoiding many a "horrible" line.For instance ,the fighting in Saints-Innocents charnel house -where the Belles de Paris used to come during the day to do some shopping among the skulls and the bones-is nowhere to be seen on the screen.

This is fairly entertaining swashbucklers adventures,a genre that was at its (commercial) peak in France circa 1960 thanks to actor Jean Marais ("le bossu","le capitan" "le miracle des loups")but was on the wane after 1965."Angélique was,all in all,the last hurrah(so to speak).

Well, I'm from central Europe and the Angelique-films have been a part of the life of everyone here, since the very beginning. The Slovak TV shows it every year and I can't actually imagine not seeing it at least once a year :) It is a perfect mixture of simple, yet great story,love, drama, adventure and history at the same time. Besides, dazzling costumes and settings, beautiful music of Michel Magne and great acting of all the cast (especially Michele Mercier, Robert Hossein and Jean-Louis Trintignant are brilliant) make all of these films a great pleasure to watch. So, when you need to escape from the grey reality, get these films and fly away to a place where courage,bravery and above all love were the heart and soul of everybody's life. Maybe you'll find there what is missing a bit in the world today...

This is the next aligned to the Angelica series. There is workmanship shown throughout this , namely the sets, and also the main theme is very immense suiting the movie's intended tone, lots of dire situations interspersed with light party carnival like scenes. By this movie she already gets like two other guys after the previous movie and one of them is offed just like the previous ones , a joke probably by the movie makers at this point of the fates of all her guys. I have to note this movie is actually a lighter toned one as far as sequels go because things are not as dire as in the original movie, but that is even hinted in the subtitle 'road to Versailles.' As for my review title, baguettes are tasty. With some iced tea.

The second part of the costume drama shows Angélique (Michèle Mercier) on a course for revenge. First she has the monk killed who had accused her former husband of sorcery. After some adventures with the bandits of Nicolas (Giuliano Gemma), she makes the acquaintance of a young poet (Jean-Louis Trintignant). Attempting to restore her former rank, the ex-countess becomes a successful business woman, introducing a trendy drink called chocolate to the public. But when she gets closer to the king, she finds out that the former conspirators against his majesty are still powerful. Her best defense might be a new marriage, but her intended husband is not willing to propose it...

I liked the sequel less than the first movie, because that one had developed the story carefully, while the sequel is a bit rushed and the characters seem to change spontaneously, whatever he script demands. Angélique falls in and out of love every day with a different guy, it seems, and her two children are treated a bit careless as well by the writers. Still good entertainment, though, because we get good action scenes with the bandits, funny moments for example with the captain of the guard, great actors anyway. I voted 8/6/7/6/6 for the 5 movies of the series.