La reine morte

Henri de Montherlant (1895 - 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and playwright. He wrote La Reine Morte (the Dead Queen) in 1942. The play deals with the romance and secret marriage of the future king of Portugal Pedro I to Inés de Castro, a lesser noblewoman of Spanish and Portuguese ancestry, and its consequences. One was, it interfered with plans by King Alfonso IV (Pedro's father) for a marriage of convenience for Pedro that would cement the union of Portugal, Aragon and Navarra.

The movie is the play, with a few inessential scenes to open it up. The play is too long and wordy for the subject at hand, and has embarrassingly melodramatic moments (Montherlant, as other Frech cultural icons may be somewhat overrated). The result is an unsatisfactory movie that needs paring of dialogue and toning down of melodrama. A miss

I discovered Montherlant's play through this movie and I was amazed. Indeed, this is only a TV movie without a big budget. But Michel Aumont, as King Ferrante, brings all his expertise as a theatre actor and gives the film its full value. Thomas Jouannet can be blamed for his melodramatic performance, but he portrays a moving Don Pedro; finally, Gaëlle Bona manages to embody a full of sweetness and innocence Dona Inès. Good performance! The scenery is splendid.