Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Kirpianuscus a page from French modern history. impressive cast. bitter story about power, desire and sins, good intentions and the reality behind appearances. a bitter show , using in wise manner the clichés about the period, the large sort of humor and the splendid atmosphere of a France reduced at the life of elite, în which the ordinary people is reduced at status of silhouettes. short, an ironic perspective about a time who, în too many aspects, seems more than familiar.

writers_reign Tavernier hit one out of the park with this, his second At-Bat. With the not inconsiderable help of Jean Aurenche, his co-writer, he offers one of the most accurate and dazzling evocations of French History ever put on film. The trio of heavy-hitters, Philippe Noiret, Jean-Paul Marielle and Jean Rochefort are outstanding as Regent, Rebel and Abbe respectively and it's interesting to find Thierry Lhermitte making an early appearance as a Nobleman which is more or less casting against type. The Sun King is dead but the intrigues with which his Court was riddled lives on and it is the nuances which delight rather than any set-pieces. This is definitely one to savour and will surely stand up to repeat viewings.

tils4 This banquet, unlike one of foodstuffs, can be savored again and again to discover its parts. A political tale, a moral tale, an aesthetic breadth that rewards repeated viewing. The casual brutality of the palace: children playing darts against a painting; nobles and servants tossing around a dead rat; and, of course, the walking latrine! As above, so below: brutish soldiers, "shanghai-ers" for the colonies, provincial nobles who live in squalid houses barely above hovels. Noiret, Rochefort, Marielle so perfectly embody their characters; wise yet inconstant Orleans, conscienceless striver Dubois, impetuous, foolish yet gentlemanly Pontcallac. It would be rewarding to view this en suite with Etore Scola's brilliant "La Nuit de Varennes" to bracket the themes.

real_satanique This is one of my all time favorite movie and probably the best historical movie ever. One of the few movies featuring 3 of the best french actors (in leading roles): Philippe Noiret, Jean Richefort and Jean-Pierre Marielle. This movie is about how cynical France was ruled after the death of Louis XIV and while the new (Louis XV) was just a child. Don't expect a spectacular movie with great action and bloody violence (like Gladiator or Brave Heart). The pleasure with this movie is somewhere else: dialogs (brilliant), description of cynicism of the nobility and the actors performances (Jean Rochefort, playing L'Abbé Dubois, stoled the show).