One of the most terrible thing in the movie is, in my opinion, the bad acting of Charles Berling, and the very bad acting of Judith Godrèche. They're romance is not very well exposed, except maybe the scene of the knee underlined by Steve Rhodes in his review.
The rituals in the french court, the manners, the languages' game are interesting. The dialogs are pretty well written. There are some great scenes, like the one of the duel. Some characters are well played, first of all the Jean Rochefort character, very moving. Bernard Giraudeau is also great, and Fanny Ardant as well (but I have a personnel problem with her acting in general).
The systematic construction between the scenes is a bit annoying, as well as the "false" return of Grégoire in the middle, before his "too-much predictable" come-back.
The movie is alright, the directing correct (sometimes great), but it misses something to make it a film I'd like to see again.
The rituals in the french court, the manners, the languages' game are interesting. The dialogs are pretty well written. There are some great scenes, like the one of the duel. Some characters are well played, first of all the Jean Rochefort character, very moving. Bernard Giraudeau is also great, and Fanny Ardant as well (but I have a personnel problem with her acting in general).
The systematic construction between the scenes is a bit annoying, as well as the "false" return of Grégoire in the middle, before his "too-much predictable" come-back.
The movie is alright, the directing correct (sometimes great), but it misses something to make it a film I'd like to see again.