Queen Margot (B or 3/4 stars)
I love historical epics. I typically love long, meaty sagas. I enjoy opulent costume dramas. I admire French actress Isabelle Adjani. Seems like the perfect recipe for me? Well, although 'Queen Margot' (directed by Patrice Chereau) contains all of that and, while I did get a lot out of this film, it doesn't coalesce into a consistently satisfying 'overall' -- but boy, are the ingredients juicy. 'Queen Margot' opens in 1572 as the Catholics & Protestant Huguenots are fighting over political control over France; which is ruled by the neurotic King Charles IX (Jean-Hugues Anglade), & his scheming mother, Queen Catherine de Medici (a serpent-like Virna Lisi). To promote 'peace', Catherine offers up her daughter Margot (Adjani) in marriage to Henri de Bourbon (Daniel Auteuil, solid) - a prominent Huguenot/King of Navarre.
However, a spiteful Catherine then schemes to bring about the notorious & bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, where just 6 days after Margot's wedding, 6,000+ Protestants are shamelessly slain, including the King's best friend. The marriage goes forward but Margot, who doesn't love Henri, begins a passionate affair with the dashing, wealthy soldier named La Mole (Vincent Perez); who was wounded in said massacre. Murders follow, as Court intrigue escalates, & Catherine's villainous plotting to place her homosexual son Anjou on the throne threatens the lives of Henri, his allies, Margot & La Mole. Melodrama & tragedy ensues.
Most of 'Queen Margot' works. Philippe Rousselot's painterly camerawork, the ornate sets, & Moidele Bickel's Oscar-nominated costumes are BEYOND superb. It's a gorgeous, sumptuous film to watch; even amid all the blood & gore. There are swordfights & battle scenes. There is love-making. Dialogue (in the script) is at a premium; which I was kind of grateful for. And the melodrama quotient is off-the-charts. Perhaps the most chilling sequence in this film depicts the dumping of 100's of corpses into mass graves {echoing Holocaust horrors}. It serves as an interesting, if also unpleasant reminder of the atrocities that litter the spectrum of human history. Having said that, the film is WAY too long at 161 minutes (or even the truncated American version at 145). Being a foreign film, 'QM' will be an endurance test for many. Also, while I enjoyed the larger-than-life performances, I feel like the romance btwn. Margot & La Mole is not as well-realized as it could have been.
The ageless Isabelle Adjani has one hell of a screen presence. She rivets, as she always does {I'm reminded of 1989's Camille Claudel}. Vincent Perez looks the part of the perfect lover, but I wasn't overwhelmed by his portrayal -- his love affair with Adjani's Margot doesn't really sizzle; despite the love scenes. Their 'romance' is tiresome, at times. Fortunately, despite those tiresome romantic stretches & some momentum-halting slow spots in the storyline, there's plenty going on in 'Queen Margot' to catch the eye & catch your breath. As for the other performances, Jean-Hughes Anglade impresses as Charles. And best of all might be Virna Lisi as Catherine de Medici, the scheming, diabolical, witch-like mother of Margot. You can't peel your eyes off her whenever she's onscreen.
So yeah, 'Queen Margot' is a mixed bag for me; though, tipping towards the positive. This film looks good {authentic locales, spectacles}, sounds good {crisp sonar design, great music}, & is well-performed. Death lingers in every single scene; kinda dug that. This movie is audacious: those bloody massacre sequences; a plethora of decapitations; a near-rape in public of Margot by her brothers - yes, you read that correctly; and a fascinating use of poison – next time you read a book, think twice before you lick the pages as you turn them! Throw in some eroticism, the Court intrigue, & those political machinations ... and you've got one crazy cinematic concoction. Even if you don't now who's who or what's going on every second, those production values/performances help this overlong saga overcome its shortcomings.
However, a spiteful Catherine then schemes to bring about the notorious & bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, where just 6 days after Margot's wedding, 6,000+ Protestants are shamelessly slain, including the King's best friend. The marriage goes forward but Margot, who doesn't love Henri, begins a passionate affair with the dashing, wealthy soldier named La Mole (Vincent Perez); who was wounded in said massacre. Murders follow, as Court intrigue escalates, & Catherine's villainous plotting to place her homosexual son Anjou on the throne threatens the lives of Henri, his allies, Margot & La Mole. Melodrama & tragedy ensues.
Most of 'Queen Margot' works. Philippe Rousselot's painterly camerawork, the ornate sets, & Moidele Bickel's Oscar-nominated costumes are BEYOND superb. It's a gorgeous, sumptuous film to watch; even amid all the blood & gore. There are swordfights & battle scenes. There is love-making. Dialogue (in the script) is at a premium; which I was kind of grateful for. And the melodrama quotient is off-the-charts. Perhaps the most chilling sequence in this film depicts the dumping of 100's of corpses into mass graves {echoing Holocaust horrors}. It serves as an interesting, if also unpleasant reminder of the atrocities that litter the spectrum of human history. Having said that, the film is WAY too long at 161 minutes (or even the truncated American version at 145). Being a foreign film, 'QM' will be an endurance test for many. Also, while I enjoyed the larger-than-life performances, I feel like the romance btwn. Margot & La Mole is not as well-realized as it could have been.
The ageless Isabelle Adjani has one hell of a screen presence. She rivets, as she always does {I'm reminded of 1989's Camille Claudel}. Vincent Perez looks the part of the perfect lover, but I wasn't overwhelmed by his portrayal -- his love affair with Adjani's Margot doesn't really sizzle; despite the love scenes. Their 'romance' is tiresome, at times. Fortunately, despite those tiresome romantic stretches & some momentum-halting slow spots in the storyline, there's plenty going on in 'Queen Margot' to catch the eye & catch your breath. As for the other performances, Jean-Hughes Anglade impresses as Charles. And best of all might be Virna Lisi as Catherine de Medici, the scheming, diabolical, witch-like mother of Margot. You can't peel your eyes off her whenever she's onscreen.
So yeah, 'Queen Margot' is a mixed bag for me; though, tipping towards the positive. This film looks good {authentic locales, spectacles}, sounds good {crisp sonar design, great music}, & is well-performed. Death lingers in every single scene; kinda dug that. This movie is audacious: those bloody massacre sequences; a plethora of decapitations; a near-rape in public of Margot by her brothers - yes, you read that correctly; and a fascinating use of poison – next time you read a book, think twice before you lick the pages as you turn them! Throw in some eroticism, the Court intrigue, & those political machinations ... and you've got one crazy cinematic concoction. Even if you don't now who's who or what's going on every second, those production values/performances help this overlong saga overcome its shortcomings.