La princesse de Montpensier

Basing a long film on a short story is usually a risk; the story often runs thin before the long film is complete. This is most assuredly NOT the case in Bertrand Tavernier's decision to adapt (with François-Olivier Rousseau) the short story 'La Princesse de Montpensier' written by Marie de LaFayette (1634 - 1693) and published anonymously in 1662. Of note, La Fayette's most famous novel was 'La Princesse de Clèves' (1678), first published anonymously in March 1678. An immense success, the work is often taken to be the first true French novel and a prototype of the early psychological novel. This film is one that both entertains in the manner of the great epics of the screen, but also teaches us about the religious differences between the Catholic and the Huguenots (Prostestants) during the 16th century while at the same time addressing from a near feminist point of view the manners of courtly versus passionate love in that fascinating period.

Very briefly, Princesse Marie de Montpensier (Mélanie Thierry) is married to Prince Philippe de Montpensier (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) in a marriage of convenience arranged by Marie's father: the rare beauty of Marie attracts the attention of all men, a fact that drives Philippe to rages of unfounded jealousy. France is in the midst of religious war and Philippe is off at war with his tutor Comte de Chabannes (Lambert Wilson): after a particularly grueling battle in which Comte de Chabannes kills a pregnant woman and a child he informs Philippe that he can no longer stomach war and asks to return to the palace where he will continue being the tutor of Marie in Philippe's absence. Marie and Chabannes become close as he teaches her to read and write - during which time Chabannes secretly falls in love with Marie. But there are other men who would woo her: Duc d'Anjou (Raphaël Personnaz)- the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici (Christine Brücher), the man history books have described as gay and who courted England's Elizabeth I unsuccessfully, and Marie's childhood friend, the handsome but battle-scarred Henri de Guise (Gaspard Ulliel). The story successfully eaves the course of the war between the religious factions and the drives and promises and desires of the four men to win the affection of Marie. Court intrigues, duels, secret meetings and the power of nobility push the story to a surprising but well designed end; passion of the heart can be destructive.

Mélanie Thierry is brilliant as Princess Marie de Montpensier and is supported by equally fine performances by Wilson, Ulliel, Personnaz, Leprince-Ringuetand a very strong supporting cast. The period costumes and customs are perfectly realized, the cinematography by Bruno deKeyser and the musical score by Philippe Sarde enhance the rich tapestry of this Tavernier masterpiece. In French with English subtitles.

Grady Harp

This costumer drama is set against the savage Catholic/Protestant wars that ripped France apart in the 16th century , the French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The story takes place in the French aristocracy during the 'Wars of Religion', the conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise (Lorraine), and both sides received assistance from foreign sources , focusing on a young woman named Marie De Mezières (Mélanie Thierry in the title role) who falls in love for her dashing cousin Henri De Guiseis (Gaspard Ulliel) but she is forced into marriage with the well-connected nobleman Philippe De Montpensier (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), who she has never met , while she falls passionately in love with another man . When Philippe is called away to battle , she is taken in the care of Count Chabannes (Lambert Wilson) , an aging aristocrat , and soon later becomes involved to the sexual and political intrigues of court , including the throne heir , Duc d'Anjou (Raphaël Personnaz) and Queen , Catherine of Medicis (Evelina Meghnagi).

This historic drama contains romance , intrigue , swordplay , spectacular battles and wonderful outdoors . It's a sweeping and romantic historical epic with a simple message : passion destroys everything . The film packs a French all-star-cast , as it stars model turned actress , Melaney Thierry , Lambert Wilson as Comte De Chabannes , Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet as Prince De Montpensier , Gaspard Ulliel as Henri De Guise and Raphaël Personnaz as Duc D'Anjou . Evocative and imaginative Original Music by Philippe Sarde . Gorgeous and luxurious Cinematography by Bruno De Keyzer . Impressive Production Design by Guy-Claude François , showing breathtaking outdoors , luxurious palaces and rousing Chateaus . The picture was well directed by Bertrand Tavernier, based on the short story by author 'Madame De La Fayette'. Bertrand is a good French director who has been making from the 70s notorious films such as The clockmaker 1974 , The judge and the assassin 1976 , 1280 souls 1981 , A Sunday in the country 1984 , Round midnight 1986 , law 627 , Daughter's Dartagnan 1994 , Captain Conan 1995 , All starts today 1999 , Laissez-passer 2002 and In the electric mist 2009 .

The flick is inspired by historical events , though predominates the passional drama . The actual deeds were the following : The long conflict involved the factional fights between the aristocratic houses of France and Catholic and Protestant ; specially St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (1572) , as the Queen Mother , Catherina of Medicis became increasingly fearful of the unchecked power wielded by Coligny and his supporters, especially as it became clear that Coligny was pursuing an alliance with the Dutch Protestant rebels. Coligny, along with many other Calvinist nobles, arrived in Paris for the wedding of the Catholic Princess Marguerite de Valois to the Protestant Henry of Navarre on August 18. On August 22, an assassin made a failed attempt on Coligny's life, shooting him in the street .Amidst fears of a Huguenot coup, the Duke of Guise and his supporters acted. In the early morning of August 24, they killed Coligny in his lodgings . Coligny's body was thrown from the window into the street, and was subsequently mutilated, castrated, dragged through the mud, thrown in the river, suspended on a gallows and burned by the Parisian crowd. For the next five days, the city erupted as Catholics massacred Calvinist men, women and children, and looted their houses, which was neither approved of nor predicted by the king. Over the next few weeks, the disorder spread to more than a dozen cities across France. Historians estimate that 2,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris and thousands more in the provinces; in all, perhaps 10,000 people were killed. Henry of Navarre and his cousin, the young Prince of Condé, managed to avoid death by agreeing to convert to Catholicism; both would repudiate their conversions once they escaped Paris.Some assert that the Edict of Nantes in 1598 concluded the wars, although a resurgence of rebellious activity following this leads some to believe the Peace of Alais in 1629 is the actual conclusion. However, the Massacre of Vassy in 1562 is agreed to begin the Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes at least ended this series of conflicts. During this time, complex diplomatic negotiations and agreements of peace were followed by renewed conflict and power struggles.At the conclusion of the conflict in 1598, Huguenots were granted substantial rights and freedoms by the Edict of Nantes, though it did not end hostility towards them. The wars weakened the authority of the monarchy, already fragile under the rule of Francis II and then Charles IX, though it later reaffirmed its role under Henry IV.

The Princess is sumptuously filmed, with a great eye for setting and costume. The eponymous princess is very well acted.

So why is there a slight air of disappointment when you get to the end. Partly it is because her husband and the pretty boy who would be her lover, are just a trifle wooden; the great weakness though is the fight scenes. They are filmed well but lack credibility. You can sense the rehearsals and guess what will happen next. The battle scenes are just confusing, not in the fog of war sense, but in having no explanation why a soldier would jump off an unwounded horse to fight on the ground. It may have looked exciting, marginally, but verged on the ridiculous.

That aside, the story bounds along quite well and will take your mind off the next banking crisis.

I am a big fan of historical dramas and have always thought that French directors do them very well. This, however, was one of the poorer efforts I have seen. I wouldn't be as hard on it as the reviewer who gave it 1 (awful). I found it absorbing enough but rather too long. The battle scenes seemed authentic in showing what it probably was like back then. The portrayal of life in the 16th century was good. The problem was with the characters who didn't have much depth in my opinion. To Richard I would mention that it was not uncommon in those days for masters and servants to sleep in the same bed. It had no sexual connotations. I think it was just for warmth.

What I think was done very well in this film by Tavernier was the decors. Tavernier being a very gifted and talented director when faced with the challenge of recreating the middle ages succeeds like no other director in very recent memory. The exteriors, interiors and costumes are presented convincingly. He shows the nature without overdoing it. We are in the middle ages without being shown cliché after cliché.

There was one fact which may or may not be hard to swallow. I think there may be a divide amongst spectators in regards to the young cast, the exception being Lambert Wilson who in my opinion was exceptional as he was in the other film of this year Des Hommes et Des Dieux. While I could tolerate the young cast I didn't by no means fall in love with them, which could have affected my slight detachment from the action on screen. The weakest in my opinion, and I'm sure there will be some who disagree with me and they are right to do so, was the princess herself. I can't explain it but when she was on the screen I was almost at the point of irritation. Admittedly this is quite subjective and I didn't find her looks and full lips as my ideal of beauty, moreover I found her insatiable in her desires but I think I was suppose to believe she was passionate. If I didn't believe that the Princesse was a creature of passion but more-so a selfish materialist how could I fall in love with the story? Aside from minor nitpicking, I found the sparse battle scenes excellent! It was such a refreshing experience to see battles treated in this way. I almost wish there was more.

What I take from this film was a real master class in how to render a medieval world. As I predicted a director of Tavernier caliber would not get this wrong.