Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3734 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-03-27
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, La Reine Margot concerns the events behind infamous Massacre of St Bartholomew in sixth-century France. Isabelle Adjani plays Margot, betrothed for political reasons to one man (Daniel Auteuil) by her mother (Virna Lisi), while she is, in fact, in love with another (Vincent Pérez). Despite the bond that grows between the reluctant couple, plots are hatching all over the castle against the royals. Adventurous, exciting, erotic and given strong artistic credibility through its outstanding cast, the film is enthralling and visually sumptuous. Directed by Patrice Chereau, less known outside of France than is the film's producer, Claude Berri (director of Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources). --Tom Keogh

Special Features
Wide Screen
French
Region 2

Synopsis
This acclaimed film presents the epic 16th-century saga of Margot de Valois (Isabelle Adjani) and her tragic arranged marriage to Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). In order to create an alliance between the Protestants and the Catholics, Margot is betrothed to Henri, one of the leaders of the French Protestants. Margot, despite her initial hostility, eventually becomes Henri's main ally in a convoluted and conspiratorial court. However, determined not to consummate her relationship with Henri, Margot takes a Protestant lover (Vincent Perez) and during the St. Bartholomew's Night Massacre, in which the Catholics slaughter the Protestants, helps him escape. The events that follow change not only Margot's life but the course of French history.

Customer Reviews

Characters were weak & lets the film down
If you want a night of blood, madness, dirt and sex...this film is for you. It is a great story but I just did not believe in the characters (with the exeption of Henry)and hence did not much care about their fate. This made the film unexciting. Yes it looks great and authentic but every character is portrayed as brutal and none come across as really likable which gives the film an unbalanced feel. You get to the point where you just wish they would all kill each other and be done with it. This is not light entertainment or a tale for the romantic at hearts. It does tell an interesting story if in a somewhat unconvincing and nightmarish way.

History as only the French do it
This is a classic rewrite of a Dumas novel (with some very considerable changes to the story). What the film gives us is a marvellously dirty, smelly, small Paris in which life is lived at a fast rate since it seems to be destined to be short. On top of this "live fast die young" message is a pretty good attempt at representing the politics of the French Wars of Religion layered on top of a gang war with more twists than the Godfather. The Massacre which forms the key event of the story is breathlessly conveyed with a driving score And behind all that is a murder mystery. Dumas could write 'em, even if he didn't quite write this.

Adjani beautiful as only she could be.

A half-decent historical drama
La Reine Margot/Queen Margot feels like that old joke about starting with an earthquake and building up to a climax. The first half is very impressive as it builds up to the bloodily realized St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, but the aftermath is less effective despite a number of potentially intriguing plot developments and relationships. But then, director Patrice Chereau is always better at set-up than delivery. Certainly you tend to observe the characters as they go through hoops rather than being particularly involved with them. Isabelle Adjani's performance doesn't help matters: she's fine as the icy royal in the first half, but she never convincingly thaws once the horrendous lengths her family are prepared to go to becomes apparent. Daniel Auteuil overdoes the eyepopping mugging as her reluctant and justifiably nervous husband, but Jean-Hughes Anglade as the weak and doomed king and Virna Lisi as the ice-veined Catherine de Medici genuinely impress.

The only extra is the theatrical trailer.