Paris, Kingdom of France, August 18, 1572. To avoid the outbreak of a religious war, the Catholic princess Marguerite de Valois, sister of the feeble King Charles IX, marries the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre.
Despite the fact that for much of this I hadn't really much of a clue who was trying to outmanoeuvre whom, I thoroughly enjoyed this historical dose of state sponsored murder and mayhem. Presided over by the imperiously devious Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi) we follow the machinations at the French court of her sons as they vie for power in France and in Navarre whilst reconciling the growing number of Huguenots (Protestants) in their midst demanding an end to the power of the Catholic church over the state and the poverty stricken people. It's to that end that she marries off her eponymous daughter, Margaret de Valois to the fairly insipid King Henry of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). He's a puppet for just about everyone and she has little interest in the marriage from the outset. She gets her kicks from the handsome and possibly the most chivalrous of her associates - La Môle (Vincent Perez) but we all know that they are but pawns in brutal game where lives at just about every level of society mean nothing at all! Assassinations, poisonings, rapes - nothing is off limits as this story of power-crazed depravity and scheming soldiers on for just over 2½ hours of blood and sweat and - well that, too! Isabel Adjani delivers a career best performance in the title role, but Auteuil and her brother Charles IX (Jean-Hughes Anglade) also help to deliver the thrust of the story well and entertainingly. Beware, it's no history lesson - if you're looking for factual accuracy then you might be wasting your time. It's a scandalous exposure of absolute dynastic rule that treats tragedy and joy with equal short-termism. The production looks great - it's actually quite uncomfortably difficult to watch at times, but if you like your history gritty, dark and uncompromising then Patrice Chéreau has created something well worth watching. Big screen is certainly best if you can, too.
