I don't watch Game of Thrones, but through cultural osmosis I have gathered that it is filled with shocking violence, graphic, sex and copious manipulations both political and personal. And while I have definitely heard griping that it’s confusing, with all the characters and lands and dragons, no one ever says its boring, which fantasy/period pieces are often accused of. Well, Patrice Chéreau's film, La Reine Margot (Queen Margot) 1994’s Game of Thrones (minus the dragons). Only instead of the Red Wedding, we have the Red Honeymoon, The St. Bartholomew Day Massacre in 1572 Paris. This “game of thrones” is the Catholic monarchy, led by Catherine de Medici and her slithering sons, desperately trying to maintain power and basically wipe out the Protestant Huguenots.
Queen Margot is plot heavy, there is no way around it. The prologue begins with a long explanation of the complex relationship between the Catholics and Huguenots and that there are dozens of characters, some of whom blend into one another. I was intimidated but found myself almost immediately engrossed. Perhaps a better knowledge of history would make the film a tad less confusing but I think that it is compelling enough even if you barely know your French history (guilty as charged).
Margot (Isabelle Adjani) is the sister of the King Charles IX and the daughter of the truly evil Catherine De Medici (Virna Lisi). As the film opens, Margot is forced to marry Henri of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil), a Protestant, to broker a peace between Catholics and Protestants. Margot does not want to marry him and makes to clear to him that they will not be spending their wedding night together, but Henri is terrified that he will be murdered by her scheming family and begs Margot to be his ally. She kicks him out and after getting in a fight with her lover, Margot declares “I need a man tonight”. So she and her maidservant don tiny masks and roam the streets outside the Louvre. There, she encounters La Môle (a smoldering Vincent Perez) and, I will put this the only appropriate way, she screws him in the alley. I told you this wasn't your mom’s period piece. 
This makes Queen Margot sound like a tale of forbidden romance or perhaps a love triangle between Margot her husband and lover, and in some ways it is, but the impact of what happens next changes Margot and her fate forever. Days after the wedding, when all the guests are still in Paris, Catherine de Medici and her two favored sons scheme to assassinate all of the powerful Huguenots who had attended the wedding and this leads to a massacre of Huguenots across the city. The St. Bartholomew Day Massacre sequence in this film is horrific. When I put this movie on my Netflix, I will be honest, I just expected some great costumes and maybe a doomed romance and some bodice ripping. The massacre is so visceral and so terrifying. It is literally happening outside of Margot’s door and she witnesses first hand men and women being brutally stabbed to death. The graphic violence shocked me but also was so necessary because the intersection of life and death is one of the main themes. How close Margot is to extreme violence and extreme ecstasy throughout the film is highlighted perfectly in this unforgettable centerpiece. Margot finds and helps an injured La Môle by hiding him in her room and we see her lustful handmaiden gleefully rip off La Môle's clothes, yes, to help him with his wounds but also to check out his abs. This relationship between violence and death and love and lust is brought to the forefront.
After the massacre, we find Margot changed. She has found love with La Môle but she has lost some of her gleeful joy and innocence. She agrees to help Henri and go against her family. La Môle, a Huguenot is also planning revenge. The remainder of the film includes: a wild boar attacking the King, Margot and La Môle making love completely nude in a crypt, executions and a book with poisoned pages that causes its victim to sweat blood. And that is just the beginning.
I loved the dual relationships Margot has with the two men in her life. Her romance with La Môle is the stuff of fantasy films, he is gorgeous and dashing and honorable. The chemistry between Adjani and Perez is electric, but their romance while passionate is also almost the last thing on their minds. Instead, they find in one another, a respite from the horror of the political situation they find themselves in. Margot's relationship with Henri is almost more fascinating because while it isn't romantic in the traditional sense, she takes her wedding vows very seriously and wants to protect him because she made a promise to him. The integrity that they both have is what binds them together and when Henri has a chance to escape without Margot he doesn't take it. When Margot saves him from an assassination attempt and they consummate their marriage, it becomes an incredibly romantic moment, not at all the beginning of their romance but securing their bond as husband and wife.
Daniel Auteuil is wonderful as Henri of Navarre and Virna Lisi is chilling as maybe the worst mother on film ever (eat your heart out Faye Dunaway). I also loved the performance of Jean-Hugues Anglade as the weak willed king, you can see how terrified he is of everything, so afraid of the power he has and so afraid of losing that power at any second. The cinematography by Philippe Rousselot is like a painting, it is stunningly beautiful and the costumes by Moidele Bickel have a lived in quality but are still sumptuous and elegant. There is a very realistic quality to the whole film, Chéreau makes the viewer feel that they are in the beautiful but dirty and chilly palace, there is a grit to the set design and costumes that keeps the film firmly on the ground and in our reality in so many ways.
The film is perfectly composed but its Adjani that you can’t keep your eyes off of. To call Adjani wonderful or marvelous or mesmerizing is an understatement. Her Margot is sensual, willful and intelligent and confident. Margot is cunning enough to protect herself and the ones she loves and time and time again, we see her stand up for herself and for her allies. Adjani is the film and she makes Margot wonderfully multifaceted; we see her brazen sexuality, her tenderness towards her brother and her steel hearted will. Margot’s journey is painful and tragic and exciting and Adjani expresses it all on her amazing face: ecstasy, joy and pure terror. It’s a face that I won’t ever forget.
Julie
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