Les rois maudits

In 1302, king Philip the Fair of France staged a coup against the mighty order of the Templars, which he considered to be a state within the state. The Grand Master was accused of sacrilegical practices and burnt at the stake. According to the legend, from the stake the Grand Master cursed the king and all his descendants. In fact, the king himself would soon die, and all his three sons would succeed him, but each only for a couple of years and each dying without issue. Therefore, these kings are often called "Les rois maudits", the "cursed kings".

The series describes the lifes of some common people during the reign of these kings, when France was struck, inter alia, by a terrible famine and by plagues. It is beautiful pageant of Medieval Life. The video, if it existed, would be an ideal educational tool for the teaching of French and European history.

When you see the names of Maurice Druon, Marcel Jullian and Claude Barma you can expect something clever and good ! You are right, this one is great. Not much more to say. 6 of the 7 books written by Maurice Druon were adapted for this TV series. Jean Piat, a major french actor, is the main character, Robert d'Artois, and the series is about this character, beginning with the sad "affaires des brus du roy", to his death during the premises of the "guerre de 100 ans". It's probably the most difficult part of France and England history and some clues are given here about the usurpation of the crown of St Louis by the family of Valois against the more legitimate heirs, Edward III of England and Charles d'Evreux ( Charles le mauvais, Roi de Navarre). Well, about this the film is quite confusing, but Caveat ! It is not historically accurate, it is a novel about Robert D'Artois, and must be taken as a novel featuring real historical characters in an historical background. It is very interesting, but some events are inaccurate, or wrong. The talent of Maurice Druon is to make all this realistic, and he did quite a job of historian and writer ! Chapeau bas !

Anyway, it is wonderful for any foreigner (or even any french student). I don't like TV, and I don't own one myself, but when I see such a pure jewel, I must admit sometimes TV can be clever and even brilliant. I am very glad to own a copy to watch on my computer, it was not easy to get even here in France. If they are available in your country, read the books, too ! don't hesitate to write me to exchange ideas, opinions or informations about the 14th century. I'd like to get some other TV series about the same period : Gaston Phebus and even more Catherine. It seems they are completely unavailable anywhere, even at the INA.

It is a shame that this TV series is only available in French . I hope someone or some organisation produce a version with English subtitles in the near future.

I recall seeing a lot of this series on BBC 2 (with their own subtitles I presume) when it was shown here in Britain. In fact I must have only seen it once and yet there is much I recall from just one viewing. The opening tableaux scene where all the actors are shown standing on steps so that it is like a 'recall' about what happened in the previous episode. Also I recall my interest watching the 'English' segment set in the court of Edward II and his murder in a dungeon (I was only in my mid teens then), the strangulation of the French Queen and the rich (and rude) language used by Robert of Artois ! I admit I haven't read the books but this series is on par with 'I Claudius' in quality !

Ok, ok, I know its a bit old, it looks more like theater than a real movie but, man, what an incredible performance from the actors ! I've rarely seen such acting. And the story was so great, I mean, I've read the book 5 times (and its about 1620 pages long) and the TV series are as great as the book. A must

(Please forgive my spelling mistakes, English is only my second language ;)

Oh, i should have seen this colossal piece of classic theater style drama much sooner. This 616 minutes felt like 2 hours and i was ready for another 616, it really took me by surprise because it looked dated and boring at first.

There's some really original scenes like those family portraits in which nobody moves for several minutes while the narrator do his job. The sets and costumes are well made and the acting level is very high. If you are a "long take fan" like me you will be pleased, really amazing actors, great cast and well directed. Jean Piat (who plays Robert d'Artois) steals the show and he's by far my favorite character in this series, what an artist!!

I've learned a lot of historical facts with this, even if some scenes are obviously fictionalized a bit.

The plot is quite complex and i was lost from time to time because there is a lot of characters in this historical saga and they are almost all important. The music is discrete and takes more and more place as the series goes on. Don't expect too much physical action though, if you don't like long dialogues in a theatrical-flamboyant style you may have some boredom problems along the way; even if there's always a spectrum of brutality and sadism around. But if you like to watch good actors performing as i do, there's an "all you can eat" buffet waiting for you on Youtube, just saying...