Director: Patrice Chéreau
Starring: Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Jean Hugues-Anglade, Vincent Pérez, Virna Lisi, Dominique Blanc, Pascal Greggory, Claudio Amendola

- Reviewed by Kerri

This stunning French movie tells the story of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, a slaying of Protestants on August 24, 1572, and is based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas père. 

France is in chaos over the Protestant and Catholic religions, which are cutting a chasm in the country and threatening the empire. To salvage the country, the young Margot de Valois (Isabelle Adjani), who is sister to the Catholic King Charles IX, is arranged to be married to King Henri of Navarre, a Huguenot and a Protestant. Naturally Margot is not in love with Henri, she is in love with La Môle (Vincent Pérez), her "doomed lover" (aren't they all?). Their love scenes truly depict the difference between mainstream and art-house cinematography.

Virna Lisi plays Catherine de Medici, the scheming mother of Margot and Charles, whose endless plots and evil meddlings result in tragedy each time. There is so much to disturb in this film, too; the massacre is quite gory, there are some incestuous happenings, and several deaths that leave you shuddering. I won't give a major plot point away, but let me just say I've never been so interested in a prop (a certain book) in a movie before....

Since this is a foreign film, I probably don't need to point out that the acting was magnificent, but I will say that Adjani's performance as Margot was amazing. You could just feel her love for La Môle, and her agony over Charles' fate. Pérez puts on an act, I'm told, that is second only to his Indochine role. This film does take enormous concentration; the dialogue is intricate (and, of course, in French), the subplots are many, and the sheer emotion between each scene can leave you exhausted. The score, done by Goran Bregovic, just adds to the drama. The history and portrayal of this tumultuous time in European history is done very well, and there's no doubt this film leaves you wanting more.

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