Video Americain

Review

This lavishly produced French epic, based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, examines the bloody history of the struggle between France's Catholics and Protestants in the late 16th century. Opening with the marriage of the Catholic Margot (the unbelievably radiant Adjani) to the Protestant Henri of Navarre (Auteuil), the film details the events leading up to and following the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in Paris, when the Catholic guard slaughtered over 6,000 Huguenots. Brimming with more palace intrigue than the best of Shakespeare, the story's central villainess is the Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici (Lisi), who is constantly hatching plots to dispatch poor Henri and keep her three sons in power. Amidst all the rabble is Margot who is insanely in love with the son of a slain Huguenot leader, La Môle (the smoldering Perez). A superb costume drama that is filled with graphic images of brutal violence. (French with English subtitles)