Let Joy Reign Supreme

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).

It is unbelievable how the director Tavernier could recapture the mentality of this beginning of the 18th century which would lead to the French revolution. The wars of Louis XIV had ruined the country and the best thing the regent (an excellent Philippe Noiret but all the actors are excellent) could do was to avoid war, so they spend their time with feasts, manipulation, fraud and speculation. The mentality of the Noble of France is well described. There is (among others) an interesting dialogue between the regent and his nephew about the way the comte de Horn should be executed: it had never happened before (in this way: rouer) in France, and he only killed a speculator!. All those pretty details and the funny but accurate dialogues make of -this movie an unique historical document and at the same time it is a pleasure to see the movie again and again.

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.

This is a film that has haunted me for thirty years. I just re-viewed it on DVD and it was every bit as good as I remembered. I don't know why it doesn't show up in festivals and best-of-all-times list; it is on mine. It is satisfyingly densely textured and the acting is flawless. It is rich in every way-- historically fascinating as it shows the tugging at the fibers of France that would eventually (but not quite yet) culminate in revolution, the many nuances of class resentment from the top down -- tension between royalty and nobility, generals and (would-be) clergy, and provincial gentry and their peasantry.

Luxurious scenes and costumes and cinematography. Psychologically rich, terrific dialog, in the closely twined relationship between jaded nobility and ambitious bourgeois that plays out in a tug-of-war over the fate of Bretons. Philippe Noiret as the jaded regent is the ambiguous moral center, stoic yet decadent, embodying la patrie yet carving a private erotic niche apart from a world where his decision can tip the balance of European powers.

This majestic movie reveals everything of that contrasting period after the reign of the "Roi Soleil". France was empty-blooded by the wars and de best thing the Régent of that moment could was to make peace with England. A Breton upraising supported by Spain was the worst case scenario. L'abbé Dubois is eager to become archbishop and everything he does, even the national politics is supported by his dream. We see the speculations about Missisipi and the first bank notes by the state. The Régent, Philippe Noiret, is a person who enjoys life and tries to avoid all problems. Against this, l'abbé Dubois and the nephew of the Régent seem to be the human beasts fueled by their ambition. The church is all powerful and the High Nobility without scruples. The state tries to populate la Louisiane by embarking prostitutes. The Régent seem to be the only good person of his time. This movie is a joy to watch again because of the sharp dialogue and the historical details.