Farewell, My Queen (2012)
DVDRip | AVI | 640 x 272 | XviD @ 1842 Kbps | 95 min | 1,36 Gb
Audio: French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs (srt): English, Portuguese-Br, Spanish
Genre: Drama
DVDRip | AVI | 640 x 272 | XviD @ 1842 Kbps | 95 min | 1,36 Gb
Audio: French AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps | Subs (srt): English, Portuguese-Br, Spanish
Genre: Drama
Farewell, My Queen marks the return of acclaimed director Benoît Jacquot and brilliantly captures the passions, debauchery, occasional glimpses of nobility and ultimately the chaos that engulfed the court of Marie Antoinette in the final days before the full-scale outbreak of the Revolution. Based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas, the film stars Léa Seydoux as one of Marie's ladies-in-waiting, seemingly an innocent but quietly working her way into her mistress's special favors, until history tosses her fate onto a decidedly different path. With the action moving effortlessly from the gilded drawing rooms of the nobles to the back quarters of those who serve them, this is a period film at once accurate and sumptuous in its visual details and modern in its emotions.
IMDB
I must admit, when I went to see this film I thought Not another picture about the revolution in France, I must have seen 20 already. I was pleased to find however that Benoit Jacquot has given the period a lot of thought, and has made one of the more effective costume films in recent years. His Sade of 2000 starred Daniel Auteuil and Isild le Besco, treating one of the lesser figures of the period with great insight into his character. Les adieux de la reine is no less engrossing; he takes us into the cramped corridors of the palace, where the small people live in dingy quarters and hope (usually fruitlessly) to be noticed by the royal couple. The night scene with the courtiers fearfully scanning the list of 286 notables who must have their heads chopped off, lit with a brackish yellow candle light is wonderfully effective.
The performances make the film. Diane Kruger, with her slight accent, makes a wonderful Marie Antoinette: sensing doom, yet still able to reach out to those around her. It's easy to see why Sidonie reveres her. Lea Seydoux, whom I hadn't noticed much up to now, shows much promise as an actress, scurrying around the palace trying to gather information about the riots in Paris. Her face is sometimes sullen, sometimes smiling, always interesting. Xavier Beauvois does well as the King. Finally Virginie Ledoyen as Yolande de Polignac–"the indisputably ravishing but dim-witted Yolande" as Simon Schama calls her. Ledoyen is as imperious and shallow as you could wish. You see how the Queen could lose her head (in both senses) over her.IMDB Reviewer