Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

Queen Margot Blu-ray Movie Review

Believe or be damned.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 16, 2014

For all of the nobler intentions religion is supposed to afford Mankind, its history is littered with the corpses of those who perished in various battles that had belief at their center. While contemporary headlines are filled with skirmishes between Sunni and Shiite in Iraq, and faint echoes of the long distrust between some Christians and Jews can still be heard throughout the world, it wasn’t that long ago that Christianity was itself under assault—from within. From virtually the moment Jesus was “removed” as the head of the religion his presence founded, his followers started arguing about what Jesus’ teachings really meant and what the best way to be a Christian really was. One of the chief showdowns in this long and tumultuous history, and one which actually continues to play out to this very day (albeit thankfully largely less violently than in times past), is the schism between Catholicism and Protestantism. While many (if not most) tend to associate the Reformation and Protestantism with the work of Martin Luther and locations like Germany, where Luther posted his infamous Ninety Five Theses in Wittenberg (which was actually then part of the Holy Roman Empire), the movement was obviously not limited to one region. There were therefore clashes far and wide once the idea of the supremacy of the Pope and general behaviors of the elite of the Catholic hierarchy started to be questioned. One of the most virulent campaigns against supposed “heretics” actually occurred in France, where ruling Catholic royals attempted (none too successfully) to quell the incipient Protestant uprising by those who were branded with the epithet Huguenots (a word with an uncertain etymology, but which may refer to Switzerland, where John Calvin’s brand of Protestantism had been fostered). Queen Margot is a lush historical epic detailing the political, societal and (of course) religious machinations that occurred during the 16th century in France, a roiling atmosphere that led to one of the most famous scenes of carnage in religious history, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572. This horrifying mass murder actually occurred during what was supposed to be a peace making marriage between Catholic princess Margot (Isabelle Adjani) and Protestant Henri de Bourbon (Daniel Auteuil), King of Navarre. Instead untold scores of Huguenots were slaughtered in a scene that would make the so-called Red Wedding of Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season seem like a pleasant little family get together.

It’s obvious from the first moment that there’s no love lost between Margot and Henri—because in fact, there’s no love, period. But quite interestingly, neither spouse is that concerned about their new state of marital indifference. They both realize this is a political union, with no other significance, and that’s that. Perhaps for that reason, there aren’t any histrionics or recriminations when Margot decides to spend her honeymoon in the arms of La Môle (Vincent Pérez), a soldier who can provide the lusty young woman with the physical pleasures she so obviously desires. Interestingly, even in choosing a lover, Margot opts for a Huguenot, as if to state she's an equal opportunity adulterer, not merely trying to avoid her Protestant husband.

Though the wedding is the focal element of the opening of Queen Margot, co-writer and director Patrice Chéreau wastes no time in detailing the roiling political machinations that have created this arranged wedding. Margot’s mother is Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi, virtually unrecognizable as an almost witch like hag), a woman who is trying her damnedest to ultimately get her younger son Anjou (Pascal Greggory) on the throne, since her older boy, King Charles IX (Jean-Hugues Anglade), is a vacillating weakling prone to bouts of hypochondria. In a stunning piece of political calculus, Catherine orchestrates the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, when literally thousands of Protestant Huguenots were slaughtered.

Based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, Queen Margot frankly has all the bodice ripping merriment and savage bloody splendor of the very best Harlequin romances, which is one reason why the film’s achievement is so devastatingly profound. Instead of amping up the emotional (or even the sexual) content, Chéreau delivers a chilling tale of royals trapped in a labyrinth of conflicting allegiances. This is nowhere more evident than in Margot’s own story. Her reaction to her mother’s perfidious plans forces her to make a life altering choice, but at the same time she’s trying to come to terms with the unexpected love she developed seemingly instantaneously from her one night stand with La Môle. Much as David Lean did some twenty years earlier with his criminally underappreciated Ryan’s Daughter, Chéreau depicts a swirling world of political tension with religious subtext, but only as it actually relates to several central characters. It’s virtually a textbook example of the so-called “intimate epic”, but rarely has it been achieved with such visceral intensity.

Queen Margot did very well during awards season in 1994, winning Best Actress at Cannes (perhaps surprisingly for Virna Lisi instead of Adjani) as well as the Jury Prize, and largely sweeping that year's Césars, with Adjani taking home Best Actress, Lisi Best Supporting Actress, and Anglade Best Supporting Actor. The performances here are simply superb, nicely connecting potentially remote historical figures with honest feeling motivations and feelings.

While the film is big (even mammoth), Chéreau never loses sight of the emotions at the center of the story, and it’s the desperation that afflicts Margot and Henri that really drives the film forward to its tragic but resilient finale. Queen Margot is a triumph of production design, magically recreating both the opulence and the squalor of 16th century France. But for once the stunning sets and costumes aren’t mere window dressing surrounding an otherwise empty canvas. Chéreau has filled this film with living, breathing human beings, and history has rarely felt less sterile and unaffecting.

Queen Margot Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Queen Margot is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer. As my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov discusses in his La Reine Margot Blu-ray review, the film received a 4K restoration in 2013 courtesy of Pathé. That evidently served as the basis for this domestic release as well, though a cursory comparison of the screenshots will show that the Cohen release boasts just an ever so slightly warmer color space (look especially at flesh tones). (I've tried to provide several screenshots which come at least close to the ones Svet utilized for his review, to help with any comparisons readers may want to make.) Other than that perhaps trifling difference (one that I must admittedly state makes me prefer the Cohen release, simply based on an unscientific comparison of screenshots), there's not much I can add to Svet's rapturous praises for this stunning new high definition presentation. Clarity and stability are reference quality, and grain is completely natural, even in the (many) dark sequences, sequences that are not marred by any noise or other artifacts. Colors are very lushly saturated, and depth is also exceptional. The elements utilized for this release were either in pristine condition or were very lovingly restored, for there's really no damage of any kind to report here.

Queen Margot Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Queen Margot's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (in the original French) provides ample surround activity throughout the film, but seems especially impressive in such standout sequences as the massacre. There's fine attention paid to differing ambiences in spaces like immense palace rooms or outside. Dialogue is very cleanly presented and Goran Bregovic's extremely evocative score also sounds great (and is nicely placed throughout the surround channels). Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is extremely wide.

Queen Margot Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, none of the extensive supplements included on the recent French Blu-ray release reviewed by my colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov have been ported over to this release.

• 2014 Re-Release Trailer (1080p; 2:18)


• Feature Length Commentary by Richard Peña, Director Emeritus of the New York Film Festival. This is a very worthwhile and consistently interesting commentary which provides a bit of historical context for those who don't know the "real" story, while also dealing with a great deal of information about the cast and crew and shoot.

Queen Margot Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Queen Margot is a uniquely brilliant piece of historical filmmaking, one that is both literate and passionate, and which is bolstered by visceral performances and an incredibly authentic feeling production design. This new 4K restoration is an absolute marvel, and while it's unfortunate that none of the supplements from the French Blu-ray release have hopped across the pond for this new domestic Blu-ray, Queen Margot still comes Highly recommended.