With “The Princess of Montpensier,” you have a soap opera set during Medieval times full of sexual desire, rivalry and following one’s heart. French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier tells the story of an unhappy princess in 16th century France and where you should be deeply engaged, you’re disappointed with the bland results. His film plods along, never pulling you into its characters. Perhaps the problem lies with the young stars. In the title role, Melanie Thierry is appropriately beautiful as the heroine, but she doesn’t have the skill to make Marie’s journey from chattel to emancipated woman a compelling one. In fact, the most sympathetic character is the older count of Chabannes, played by Lambert Wilson, and it’s his skill that results in Chabannes being such a tragic figure.
Set against the backdrop of the war between Catholics and Protestants, this movie focuses on a young heiress, Marie de Mezieres (Thierry) and the different men who vie for her affection: the insecure prince whom she is forced to marry (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet); the prince’s cousin, a handsome knight with questionable intentions (Gaspard Ulliel); a quick-witted duke (Raphael Personnaz); and the count of Chabannes (Wilson), a retired soldier who becomes Marie’s tutor. “The Princess of Montpensier” has beautiful production values, but with an excessive running time of 2 hours and 20 minutes, and the flat performance of Melanie Thierry, this is one film that I suggest you skip. Subtitles. 4/18/11
1 comment:
I usually like French speaking
period pieces, particilarly the swashbucklers. "The Princess of Montpensier" had all the elements and I fully expected to enjoy tnis subtitled flick. This movie was slow and plodding with no interesting characters or plots. Watch "Game of Thrones" ln TV instead.
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