Sunday, August 12, 2007

La Reine Margot


I just saw a new time with absolutly great pleasure one of my favorite film : La Reine Margot. The talented French director Patrice Chéreau tells us the story of a very sad part of French history : the night of St Barthelemew. (la nuit de la Saint Bathélémy).
A bit of history about the Saint Barthelemy, so if you ever see the film, which I highly recommend, you will understand without asking you questions.
All is good in this film. The dialogues, the actors, the light, the music which has nothing to do with the time but most of it is based with east European gypsy chants, composed by Goran Bregovic (some say Chéreau did it on purpose to link with the war in Kosovo but the point is that the music fits perfectly).
If you speak a bit of French try to see the original version. Unfortunatly I confirm that translation is not as good as the original language. It is a very violent film but the most violent scenes are not while it is violent in front of your eyes. It’s all in the looks, a little phrase, all the pain you can read in the eyes of the actors, it’s all in the dance between the king brothers while they verbally fight with their sister Margot, it’s all in the obsession of La Mole for Margot, a friendship to death between a catholic and a protestant, the everlasting plots of a mother (the Queen, unforgettable Virna Lisi, for the sake of her sons, the hatred between the king brothers because they want to reign, it’s a story about passion and Patrice Chéreau made it a baroc fascinating scenery.

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