User reviews

I like period pieces, and this film has plenty of history (late 17th-century France, Louis XIV), setting (Normandy) and elaborate costumes (including various hairpieces). There is some interesting insight into Madame de Maintenon, the mistress-cum-wife of the king (whose devotion to Catholicism most certainly influenced her husband's repression of the Protestants in France). The acting is marvelous, perhaps most notably among the younger girls, who progress from speaking their local patois (Provencale, Languedocien, etc.) to "proper" French as Madame sees to it that they become educated young ladies. My 20th-century-trained ear found it a bit difficult to understand all of this proper French, but I did enjoy the film.

It's a pity I have to write in english here, I have the words in my own language but maybe not in shakespeare's. The movie tells about how Mme de Maintenon (last wife of king Louis the fourteenth) has created a young girls institution called Saint-Cyr. It is actually an excellent subject to understand the philosophical and religious questions of the Baroque, but for this time, well, it's just a not very good yet well intentioned film. Isabelle Huppert does her part all right (it's not her best acting anyways), Jean-Pierre Kalfon is a possible king Louis, but that is all, the rest of the cast is not professional enough to hold a bad script. Often in the film, writings tells us "5 years later", "one month later", "one summer day", and that is good, we'll understand nothing without them. It's a pity there is not more of that to tell us also who's who, what means what, what place is what, why a people going out of a room closes the door in front of him (in my world he can't get out then), why the horses rides are circular, why why why... The language used is not well chosen : it's sure not the languages of the times, not our times eigther, it is too much "written" but not well written. A funny idea was to show the little girls coming from the whole country using their local language (the 'patois'), the uniformization of the french language was one of the great chalenges of the 17th. The characters are not good, much too romantic, I'm not very happy to have spent one and a half hour watching this. The public will keep in mind some historical points, maybe, but it's not more intersting and less fun than "angélique marquise des anges". Historical movies like "tous les matins du monde" are much more intersting, they try (and fail or not, how to say ?) to catch the exact spirit of the ages. a 6/10 because I love very much Isabelle Huppert.

There is probably some philosophy about education, freedom, order, God, values etc etc somewhere deep in this movie. The problem is the movie is way too long, too incoherent, explains too little about the motivation of the founder (the queen) and all the other persons here. I have no idea who is who in this movie - maybe some of these girls have been really important for the French history or whatever. Something is happening in here, but the movie is very slow, hard to watch, boring to death. "Barry Lyndon" was not the fastest historical movie I have seen but I loved it. The story was coherent and real, I could see fate of a real man in particular historical era. But this movie is more or less the collection of postcards, emotions, images than real storytelling movie. I have had very hard time to fit the movie to some particular time or greater historical picture. There is no real ending, no explanation of consequences. I have found this movie way too unsatisfactory to enjoy it. The "Vatel" was way, way better.

It is inspired by the life of Madame de Maintenon who created with the help of Louis XIV a school for young girls. This could seem dreadful and it is not. This movie is something inbetween Full Metal Jacket (First part) and Barry Lyndon (Second part). It is more than the story of young girls. It deals with religion, the duality of (wo)man. It is beautiful and savage and the actresses are great (ever heard of Isabelle Huppert ?). Hope you can watch it in French because the language is perfect. Definitely worth looking. I just hope this movie will be screened all other the world. Maybe a palme in Cannes will help but I do not think Mr Besson will like that sort of movie ;-)

A bit difficult to understand, it takes much time, not only once to watch the film. Fine points of french history and language are not visible (and not particularly interesting) for me, because this film is about the relations between humans, human and God, human and its conscience. From this direction the film is terrifically impressive and deep…

Also if you like films a sort of "The Fine art of love: mine ha-ha": extremely romantic, but with such dramatic end, that you weep bitter tears after the last shot then it's definitely for you.

P.S. I'm so sorry for my terrible English.

In the great tradition of deconstructive, revisionist, demoralizing 1990s French historical pieces (Le Roi Danse, Vatel, etc.) comes yet another unjustifiable horror, this time attacking the memory of Mme de Maintenon (wife of Louis XIV). This turgid post-modern melodrama has all the required ingredients by which France's period films of late are expected to regularly shoot themselves in the foot and reflect badly on their country of origin: great costumes and sets and great photography, marred by bad, zombie-like acting (especially on the part of the younger players), faulty narration (to the point that the viewer literally has no clue about whether the players are coming or going), unrealistic dialogue, too literary, yet never to the point, a pervading sense of urgency (every scene is a fresh drama demonstrating that life is a piece of crap devoid of any comic relief), plenty of medical emergencies like in any afternoon TV soap opera, numerous non sequiturs as if the viewer is to be condemned at every turn for caring about what happens next and about a healthy narrative arc. The general impression is one of depression, anemia and absurdity. Oh yes, and plenty of body fluids... The viewer honestly doesn't want to believe any of this happened the way it is shown. We want to believe the history of France and of its greatest characters had some purpose. The music is a horrible hodge-podge of electronic throw-aways and period pieces. The film's style has borrowed all the more questionable elements that make the worst films of Bresson, Godard and Marguerite Duras terminally boring and pointless but without talent, unity and vision. On a more positive note, this film has convinced me to renounce ever seeing another Isabelle Huppert vehicle. I would rather sow lint bunnies into a Gobelins tapestry. The cheery bird songs over the end titles weren't bad, though, but they came a little too late for my taste.

Good intents sometimes render questionable results. Having this said, I must add, that it applies to the story, not to the quality of the film.

In the period of Louis XIV, the Madame de Maintenon uses her social position, gain as a courtesan, to build up an approved school for noble daughters, whose parents have fallen in poorness. She wants to educate them as free spirits to enable them more choices than she has had, but fails to some degree.

I just happened to see it by chance, and did not expect too much, since I had to see it in French with subtitles. But even without understanding the language more than made possible by Latin knowledge, I was able to enjoy it and to notice even the different dialects of the smaller girls.

This beautiful movie encompasses several issues of other movies I liked: The main idea is alike the one of Dead Poets Society, where the concept of free education against the rules also leads to unforeseen results. The strong relation of the two younger leads reminded me of Heavenly Creatures, whereas the drastic turn in religious questions was nearly as heavy as the one of Sue Bridehead in Jude, although in my opinion the latter was played more convincing by Kate Winslet.

In general, the acting was well done. I really recommend this movie for everyone who likes DPS and/or tragic period pieces.