The Princess of Montpensier

2010 [FRENCH]

Action / Drama / History / Romance / War

9
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 54% · 66 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 54% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 4453 4.5K

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Plot summary

Set in the high courts of 16th Century France, where the wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants are raging. Marie de Mézières, a beautiful young aristocrat, is in love with Henri de Guise, but her hand in marriage is promised to the Prince of Montpensier.

Director

Bertrand Tavernier Photo
Bertrand Tavernier

Top cast

Gaspard Ulliel Photo
Gaspard Ulliel as Henri de Guise
Lambert Wilson Photo
Lambert Wilson as François de Chabannes
Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet Photo
Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet as Philippe de Montpensier
César Domboy Photo
César Domboy as Mayenne
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.25 GB
1280*544
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
2 hr 19 min
Seeds 2
2.57 GB
1920*816
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
2 hr 19 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by ma-cortes 7 / 10

Historical film plenty of loving drama , passion , duels , battles and extraordinary scenarios

This costumer drama is set against the savage Catholic/Protestant wars that ripped France apart in the 16th century , the French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The story takes place in the French aristocracy during the 'Wars of Religion', the conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise (Lorraine), and both sides received assistance from foreign sources , focusing on a young woman named Marie De Mezières (Mélanie Thierry in the title role) who falls in love for her dashing cousin Henri De Guiseis (Gaspard Ulliel) but she is forced into marriage with the well-connected nobleman Philippe De Montpensier (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), who she has never met , while she falls passionately in love with another man . When Philippe is called away to battle , she is taken in the care of Count Chabannes (Lambert Wilson) , an aging aristocrat , and soon later becomes involved to the sexual and political intrigues of court , including the throne heir , Duc d'Anjou (Raphaël Personnaz) and Queen , Catherine of Medicis (Evelina Meghnagi).This historic drama contains romance , intrigue , swordplay , spectacular battles and wonderful outdoors . It's a sweeping and romantic historical epic with a simple message : passion destroys everything . The film packs a French all-star-cast , as it stars model turned actress , Melaney Thierry , Lambert Wilson as Comte De Chabannes , Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet as Prince De Montpensier , Gaspard Ulliel as Henri De Guise and Raphaël Personnaz as Duc D'Anjou . Evocative and imaginative Original Music by Philippe Sarde . Gorgeous and luxurious Cinematography by Bruno De Keyzer . Impressive Production Design by Guy-Claude François , showing breathtaking outdoors , luxurious palaces and rousing Chateaus . The picture was well directed by Bertrand Tavernier, based on the short story by author 'Madame De La Fayette'. Bertrand is a good French director who has been making from the 70s notorious films such as The clockmaker 1974 , The judge and the assassin 1976 , 1280 souls 1981 , A Sunday in the country 1984 , Round midnight 1986 , law 627 , Daughter's Dartagnan 1994 , Captain Conan 1995 , All starts today 1999 , Laissez-passer 2002 and In the electric mist 2009 . The flick is inspired by historical events , though predominates the passional drama . The actual deeds were the following : The long conflict involved the factional fights between the aristocratic houses of France and Catholic and Protestant ; specially St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (1572) , as the Queen Mother , Catherina of Medicis became increasingly fearful of the unchecked power wielded by Coligny and his supporters, especially as it became clear that Coligny was pursuing an alliance with the Dutch Protestant rebels. Coligny, along with many other Calvinist nobles, arrived in Paris for the wedding of the Catholic Princess Marguerite de Valois to the Protestant Henry of Navarre on August 18. On August 22, an assassin made a failed attempt on Coligny's life, shooting him in the street .Amidst fears of a Huguenot coup, the Duke of Guise and his supporters acted. In the early morning of August 24, they killed Coligny in his lodgings . Coligny's body was thrown from the window into the street, and was subsequently mutilated, castrated, dragged through the mud, thrown in the river, suspended on a gallows and burned by the Parisian crowd. For the next five days, the city erupted as Catholics massacred Calvinist men, women and children, and looted their houses, which was neither approved of nor predicted by the king. Over the next few weeks, the disorder spread to more than a dozen cities across France. Historians estimate that 2,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris and thousands more in the provinces; in all, perhaps 10,000 people were killed. Henry of Navarre and his cousin, the young Prince of Condé, managed to avoid death by agreeing to convert to Catholicism; both would repudiate their conversions once they escaped Paris.Some assert that the Edict of Nantes in 1598 concluded the wars, although a resurgence of rebellious activity following this leads some to believe the Peace of Alais in 1629 is the actual conclusion. However, the Massacre of Vassy in 1562 is agreed to begin the Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes at least ended this series of conflicts. During this time, complex diplomatic negotiations and agreements of peace were followed by renewed conflict and power struggles.At the conclusion of the conflict in 1598, Huguenots were granted substantial rights and freedoms by the Edict of Nantes, though it did not end hostility towards them. The wars weakened the authority of the monarchy, already fragile under the rule of Francis II and then Charles IX, though it later reaffirmed its role under Henry IV.
Reviewed by enteredapprenticering 5 / 10

Nice Costume Drama, but total waste of time

This is a nice historic costume drama, it is well set, directed excellently and acted with love to details. Still this movie is a total waste of time, as the story line is not satisfying. The basic story goes like this: an aristocratic girl is promised as usual in these times to ensure stability of alliances of her family. She is married to a nice good-looking aristocratic young man, who starts to love her and who is committed and monogamous towards his new wife. As she is beautiful and attractive, every other aristocrat around her desires to have sexual relations with her. She is not a flaky dull-minded blond who does not know what consequences follow actions, but does it nonetheless. She dishonors her husband, her family, her husbands family and basically everyone else and is extremely badly skilled at covering up her smiles and blushing, when other aristocrats glance at her with sexual desire. She leaves her husband at the end only to discover that she received not more than a hot flirt in exchange for the destruction of her own future, her husbands future and everyone else in her life.Now, can anyone please tell me why this story should be worth watching it? Well, I believe it is not even though it is a solidly made movie with solid actors.Be warned...it's your time.
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