Angélique, 2. Teil

How is it possible that no one before wrote a review of this movie and that only 11 persons voted on it? Maybe the predominantly American audience of IMDb is not much aware of French movies. French ladies (and especially young ladies!) and gentlemen, give your comments! The honor of France is at stake. The movies of the "Angelique" series are the ULTIMATE SENTIMENTAL CLOAK AND DAGGER STORY! A whole generation of French (and not only French!!) teenagers has swooned over these movies. So much adventure, splendid 17th century costumes, romantic love, faith and treason, it is all there! Of course the events often transgress the limits of what is credible, but who cares? Just don't be ashamed of enjoying these movies! And, of course, Michèle Mercier is splendid as the incredibly seductive and courageous heroine "Angelique".

Angelique returns! The saga continues with Angelique now deprived of her wealth and a refugee. She reunites with her first love Nicolas - now a gang leader and a very different character to the character we saw in the first film.

With too many characters coming and going and the film dragging, I didn't find it as interesting as 'Angelique'. I could hardly keep track of all the characters. Angelique then becomes a successful chocolatier. She is as witty as ever, which salvaged the film (for me) to a certain extent.

I missed Jeoffrey (Robert Hossein) and the love story was far too much like a daily soap opera. I didn't really find any of the characters compelling - apart from Angelique, off course. The costumes and locations are once again stunning, though.

To be honest, 'Angelique: The Road to Versailles (originally 'Marveilleuse Angelique') was rather forgettable. Compared to 'Angelique' selling 60 million box office tickets, 'The Road to Versailles' only sold 10.3 million tickets. I rest my case.

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.

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.