Erben der Liebe

What can you say about this? Mistral's Daughter is probably the Gone With The Wind of juicy trash novel-into-miniseries of its era. Stuffed with familiar American actors who just barely pull off their roles as French free spirited artists and models (or, as in Stefanie Powers' case, don't), and nicely spiced with a fair number of British and Continental actors whose appearances chiefly go to prove how bad most American television performers are by comparison, the series has to coast primarily on lush locale filming and some very tony production values.

There are moments that render this gargantuan enterprise not completely without merit--Episode 5, in which we see Mistral's worst nature coming out in his collaboration with the occupying Nazis, which leads to the deaths of several people, and his abandoning of one of his closest associates, has some scenes that are able to evoke genuine emotion in the midst of all the surrounding soap opera; most of the credit for those can be handed easily to the very fine Ian Richardson, whose portrayal of Avigdor, the Jewish gallery owner/dealer who has given Mistral his first public artistic exposure and success (and who wins no gratitude from either Mistral or his scheming wife Kate as a result) is moving and first-rate. His performance carries far and away the most nuance and human believability of anyone in the cast--I'd have frankly been glad to see him given more screen time in trade for some of the purely wooden Robert Urich, for one example.

Stacy Keach tries as the Picasso-esque Mistral--I think what failings there are in his performance stem less from thespic inability on his part than from the basic silliness of Krantz's conception of what a 'narcissistic genius' artist might be like--she gets the high notes right, but obviously can't imagine anything beyond cartoon-level 'complexity' for Mistral's less flamboyantly selfish side (oddly enough, bad a writer as Krantz is, Mistral's Daughter is probably her best-written book, likely because of the affinity with the Jewish issues woven into the plot. These themes seemed to have caused her to tone down the trashiness somewhat, and to treat her material with slightly more respect than is normal for her style. However her take on 'artist's quarter Paris' is hilariously wrong, and the film, with its apparent inability to tone down the overtly contemporary look of most of the actors, particularly a number of the female ones, along with a goodly number of historical inaccuracies, just plays up the anachronistic feel to an annoying degree).

Timothy Dalton is good as Maggie's doomed great love, and initially at any rate, Lee Remick is quite credible as the smitten but always calculating Kate. Her character is turned into such an over-the-top wicked witch sort by the time of her exit however, that she comes off more like a stereotypical soap-queen evil matriarch than as anything recognizably human. Powers can work up the occasional pretty pout in her earlier scenes, but she ain't credible as either 18-year-old nymph or as post-menarche grande dame, and her histrionics in the years between don't add up to much more than a set of nicely photographic cheekbones and some sweetly glycerine tears here and there.

But there are a few bits that make this a not totally worthless jaunt-- a firm grip on the fast-forward button might be advisable--and the penultimate scenes which show Mistral's artistic expiation for his wartime sins do carry some honest emotional heft (though I could wish they'd have come up with better paintings than the ones used to illustrate this), and there is the allure, no matter how silly, of the multi-generational epic device. Despite the main theme of the story dealing with great art and its primacy above all other considerations, don't expect too much high art from this production, and you might step away from it not totally unentertained.

The only reason to watch Mistral's Daughter is Timothy Dalton who appears in Episodes 2 and 3. He's the reason I'm giving 10 stars. If I could just buy episodes 2 and 3, I would. This man is like a woman's dream come true - he comes across as so sincere, so sexy, so kind, so accepting and so devoid of ego - what woman interested in men, would NOT want to be loved by a man like this? Name another actor with that level of drop dead gorgeous looks, that sumptuous voice, that dazzling charm, acting talent for days and so generous to his fellow actors! I confess envy that Stephanie Powers got to do these scenes with him and honestly, don't know how she didn't keep from jumping his bones for real. When I die, I want to see Timothy Dalton in heaven - please God!!!!

This a typical glossy American mini-series of the mid-eighties (and now) concerning a grumpy Provencal artist deftly played by Stacey Keach and his life and loves. It is both melodramatic and crass, but it is watchable for one reason alone; the sight of Stefanie Powers prancing around the Rive Gauche in 1900's Paris playing an 18 year artist's model when she is well over 40 and far too old for the part is absolutely irresistible. This is genuine parody fodder for the likes of French & Saunders and has the watcher giggling with disbelief at such comic miscasting. Interlaced with its syrupy theme tune 'Only Love' sung by the evergreen (and awful) Nana Mouskouri and faux French scenery, this is guaranteed to cheer up all fans of awful but hilarious television.

A cozy up to the fire kind of flick for a rainy day blubber-fest. The "mistral" a wild, hot wind that blows for weeks in parts of Greece and Italy, this epic tale blows likewise, with the fiery passion of a true "romantic". Yes, Stephanie Powers is probably the only woman who could have pulled off the age span, and she does it very well.

But once Timothy Dalton took over the screen all else paled. Talk about wild and hot, this man could make any woman burn! When Dalton leaves the stage the movie begins to go downhill for those of us who love to look at that gorgeous face! If Judith Krantz knew T.D. would have been playing him, I would like to think she would have kept him around longer. But alas, the plot did not, so to speak. My enthusiasm began to wane even though the heroine's life didn't.

Mistral himself comes off as what he is, an egocentric, artistic cad, well done by Stacey Keach. You do begin to despise the man. Loved the story, and the scenery was breath-taking enough to make me want to hop a plane for France, just to travel the countryside and see what Krantz saw when she wrote it.

The artworks depicted in the film were striking, and one could almost believe to find them in some gallery in New York or Chicago. All in all, a chick-flick, but one worth re-visiting on a lonely day.

This is another of those big, lush '80s miniseries, better known as trash wallows. What fun they were - expensive, scenic, opulent. Mistral's Daughter is based on a novel by Judith Kranz, concerning three generations of women in the same family involved with a great artist, portrayed by Stacy Keach. Stefanie Powers plays Maggy, the matriarch of the family, who, as a young woman, meets Mistral and becomes involved with him. Later on, her daughter meets him, falls in love with him and bears him a child.

Mistral is a real jerk, a Nazi collaborator who turns escaping Jews away at his gates and even turns in a few to get paint supplies. The kind of total narcissist codependents fall in love with. When his illegitimate daughter finds out about this years later, Mistral has to come to grips with his own selfish, self-absorbed life.

For a good actor, Stacy Keach isn't very good in this - everyone suffers from rotten accents. Stefanie Powers is always good but playing a 17-year-old when she was over 40 may not have been the best move, although she certainly is very beautiful.

All in all, this is a very entertaining miniseries. Just don't take it too seriously and enjoy it for what it is - an '80s artifact.