Written and directed by Beno&#圎E t Jacquot and based on the novel b圜hantal Thomas, Farewell, My Queen explores the death throes of theFrench monarchy over a period of three days in July, 1789. The performances areparticularly effective as Diane Kruger and Lea Seydoux are well castand empathetic in their roles. It's a handsome film that duly contrasts the masters andservants via costumes, sets and cinematography. If you are not familiar, it's a good idea to review thistime period before seeing the film.A sense of mystery is evoked by a combination of narrative reveals andsoundtrack. The original audience would be expectedto be familiar with the basic history and players of the FrenchRevolution. The dialog isFrench with English subtitles.
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If you areentertained by the series Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs andenjoying stealing a glimpse behind the inner workings of court lifethis film will not disappoint.There is no exposition at the beginning of this film.
The three dayscover the early days of the French Revolution as seen through her eyes.Be advised, this is not a film about Marie Antoinette. Read Moreįarewell, My Queen is a French film that covers three days in the lifeof servant Sidonie. You see howthe Queen could lose her head (in both senses) over her. Ledoyen is as imperious and shallow as you could wish. Finally Virginie Ledoyen as Yolande de Polignac-'theindisputably ravishing but dim-witted Yolande' as Simon Schama callsher. Her face is sometimes sullen,sometimes smiling, always interesting. Lea Seydoux, whom I hadn't noticed much up to now, shows muchpromise as an actress, scurrying around the palace trying to gatherinformation about the riots in Paris. Diane Kruger, with her slight accent,makes a wonderful Marie Antoinette: sensing doom, yet still able toreach out to those around her. The night scene with the courtiersfearfully scanning the list of 286 notables who must have their headschopped off, lit with a brackish yellow candle light is wonderfullyeffective.The performances make the film. Les adieux a la reine is no lessengrossing he takes us into the cramped corridors of the palace, wherethe small people live in dingy quarters and hope (usually fruitlessly)to be noticed by the royal couple. His Sade of 2000 starred Daniel Auteuil and Isild leBesco, treating one of the lesser figures of the period with greatinsight into his character. Iwas pleased to find however that Benoit Jacquot has given the period alot of thought, and has made one of the more effective costume films inrecent years. I must admit, when I went to see this film I thought: Not anotherpicture about the revolution in France, I must have seen 20 already. Agathe-Sidonie watches as the Queen's attempts to flee are aborted her most intimate friend betrays her and the King, appearing to sleepwalk through this crisis, never alters his routine of visiting the Apollo Salon several times a day to consult a giant crystal thermometer.įrom the tiniest garret to the Hall of Mirrors, where Marie-Antoinette stands alone and terrified in the dark, Chantal Thomas shows us a world on the edge of oblivion and an intimate portrait of the woman who, like "fire in motion," was its center.Reviewed by Bob Taylor ( ) 8/10 Soon Versailles's beauty is nothing more than a shell encasing rising panic and chaos. But with the shocking news that someone has woken the King in the night, order begins to disintegrate and word of the fall of the Bastille seeps into court. When Agathe-Sidonie is summoned to the Queen's side on the morning of the 14th, Versailles is a miniature universe, sparkling with every outward appearance of happiness and power, peopled with nobles of minutely calibrated rank, and run according to a hundred-year-old ritual called the Perfect Day. Now exiled in Vienna, she looks back twenty-one years to the legendary opulence of Versailles and meticulously reconstructs July 14, 15, and 16 of 1789. It was once the job of Madame Agathe-Sidonie Laborde to read books aloud to Marie-Antoinette.
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