Les rois maudits

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 ;)

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.

As a Maurice Druon's Rois Maudits fan I got crazy when I read about the 2005 TV series. Then I knew that there was a 1972 series and I got crazy to get it. Well, it was even better than I imagine.

The Rois Maudits collection tells about the curse Jacques the Molay, great master of the Templars, cast on the French King, Philippe IV Le Bel, and his descendants till the 13th generation. Tragedy after tragedy comes over the characters. So an advise: do not love one of them too much, or you can be very sad and very quick!

People must know that it's a play style movie, the actors and actress came from the comédie française and are wonderful at this kind of production. What amazed me most is the fact that even when the character of the book does not fit the person, the actor or actress impersonates it too well that I got convinced that they are the same person at all. One example is Georges Ser, he is Louis X Le Hutin, exactly he is in the book.

The best book made film I ever seen. I can miss one or two scenes, specially those of baby Edward (III) in the first episode, but all is in the correct place and the actors are great. The only real problem is: there are not subtitles. You must know French, or like me, have a poor French but remember all the books and dialogues. Well, I enjoyed, and I recommend!

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 !

Right up there with Elizabeth R, Henry the eight six wives and the Mahabharata ! It is acting at it's best and even forty years later, we are still trying to create tv series able to compete with this one ! Buy it, rent it or steal it, but see it !!! 10/10