Fontainebleau Eager to Attract Film Shoots

Did you know the films "Cyrano de Bergerac" (1990),

"The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998)

and "Vatel" (2000)

were all filmed at the château de Fontainebleau? The palace also served as the setting for the music videos "Love of My Life" by Anna Calvi and "Born to Die" by Lana Del Rey. Variety magazine interviews the president of the château de Fontainebleau, Jean-François Hébert, who is eager to attract additional projects to the palace.

Should I tell him I have just the story? ;)

"François I: le Rois des rois"

I just watched and want to share with you "François I: le Roi des rois," an episode of France 2's television series Secrets d'histoire. First aired in August 2011, the episode is available for viewing on the internet. It boasts beautiful photography of François I's châteaux, interesting anecdotes about his life and relationships, and critical insights into his reign by leading French historians and writers. Definitely worth watching, even if you don't speak French. You can find it, divided into three parts, on Dailymotion: part 1, part 2, and part 3. I was greatly pleased to see that Monique Chatenet, an historian who has written definitive works on Fontainebleau and the sociological role of architecture in the establishment of François's kingship, contributed to the show.

Check out the official Secrets d'histoire website for other episodes of interest, posted in their entirety.

Film: The Princess of Montpensier

The Princess of Montpensier, Bertrand Tavernier's gorgeous historical drama set in sixteenth century France and based on the eponymous novel by Madame de Lafayette, opens this Friday in US theaters. When the film opened in Europe last May, I longed for an American showing. Now I'm hoping to be lucky enough to find it in a nearby theater. If not, I'll have to wait for the DVD, but at least a DVD is assured now that the film is showing in the States. You can view the English trailer here. Film Journal International ran a wonderful interview with Tavernier here. The reviews are uniformly exceptional. If anyone is lucky enough to view the film, please come back and share your impressions! I'm off to see if I can find it in an area theater.

The Renaissance at Cannes

The sixteenth century is making a splash this year at the Cannes Film Festival.

Veteran French director Bertrand Tavernier has entered his first film in twenty years in this year's Palme d'Or competition. Reuters calls La Princesse de Montpensier, set in 1562 during the Wars of Religion, "one of the finest costume dramas in a long while." Based on the eponymous novel penned by Madame de Lafayette in 1662, the film tells the story of a young noblewoman "torn between passion, duty, companionship and ambition, each quality personified by a different man" (Variety).

Critics seem generally pleased with Tavernier's efforts. According to Variety, the film has "both beauty and brains, and offers a portrait of renaissance life -- complete with ethics now utterly alien to a contempo mindset -- leagues more accurate than most historical epics." However, the review goes on to say, this accuracy might be the film's fatal flaw, rendering the film too intellectual for the masses outside France.

I hope they try us. I'd love to see this!

Click here for a photo gallery; here for three short clips. The film will be playing in France this summer. Anyone who gets the opportunity to view it, please come back and let us know what you think!

Film: Henri 4

The sixteenth century is lighting up movie screens, at least across Europe: Henri IV, an epic film by German director Jo Baier about the king who brought the bloody Wars of Religion to a close and reunited a divided France, debuted at the Berlin Film Festival last week. The movie is based on the 1935 novel by Thomas Mann's brother Heinrich Mann and pits the wily Henri against Catherine de Medici, determined to keep her own brood on the throne.

You can read a review of the movie here and watch the trailer (in German) here. [Unfortunately, the review transposes numerals in the date and describes the events as happening in 1653 instead of 1563, calling the drama an "entertaining romp about epic 17th century [sic] conflict with lots of fighting in court, on the battlefield, and in bed."

According to Variety, the film has scored buyers from Eastern Europe to South America, but so far no word of North American sales. If anyone catches the film in Europe, I'd love to hear what you think. Henri VI seems to cover much of the same ground as the 1994 film La Reine Margot, starring Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil; it would be interesting to compare the two films and see whether Baier has a new take on the material.