French helmer Bertrand Tavernier’s work is a mystery to me. I didn’t see 2009’s In the Electric Mist starring Tommy Lee Jones, which would have served as an introduction, instead his 2010 Cannes Film Festival entry La princesse de Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier) has the honor. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the welcoming I wished for. It’s repetitive treacle based on Madame de La Fayette 1662 short story in which the characters make the same mistakes over and over again until the very end where they have no choice but to zig when all they’d done to that point was zag.
Set in France, 1562, The Princess of Montpensier stars Melanie Thierry as Marie de Mezieres and sets out to tell a love story with the religious war of the Protestants versus the Catholics serving as the backdrop. Marie is denied her love for Duc de Guise (Gaspard Ulliel) in a power play by her father, forcing her to marry Philippe de Montpensier (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet). Convinced of her duty, despite her young lust for Guise, she agrees to the marriage, but Philippe’s instant departure for battle leaves her alone with no memories of her new husband to speak of (other than their awkward wedding night consummation) and her mind is left to wander.
At first a love triangle forms, which quickly turns into a parallelogram only to finally become a exasperating five-sided polygon. Not one to learn from her mistakes, Marie’s unchecked flirting is uncanny. Accepting the hand of any man that bows before her, she opens herself up to a world of suitors despite already being married. The goal of the film is for the audience to find interest, intrigue and tension in her growing list of potential affairs, but instead each scene becomes derivative of its predecessor to the point you’re just throwing up your hands and saying, “Oh man, this guy again!”
Everywhere this film turns, there is the Duc de Guise and when he’s not clamoring for Marie’s attention someone else is sure to be waiting in the wings. Early on, even Philippe’s friend and mentor, Comte de Chabbanes (Lambert Wilson) finds himself in love with Marie within days of Philippe being summoned to war despite being twenty years her senior. It all sounds possible and potentially entertaining, but the treatment of the material is redundant and ineffective, at least it was for me as I never found myself caring much for any of the characters or finding any interest in Marie’s plight.
It’s a hard for a filmmaker to make a film set in the 16th century and present it in a way modern day audiences can connect with it while at the same time staying true to the culture differences from 50 years ago. This is where The Princess of Montpensier lost me. I was looking at the situation Marie found herself in and began contemplating solutions because clearly the characters in the film weren’t interested in making an adult decision and never do. I have a hard time watching people making awful decisions over and over again. What’s the point? Why would I care about the lives of people who don’t seem to care about their lives themselves?
Otherwise, the acting in the film is quite good. Melanie Thierry as Marie, Gaspard Ulliel as Guise and Lambert Wilson as Chabbanes are all solid. Tavernier has excellent control of his camera and gets some beautiful shots against the autumn leaves. His battle sequences were also rather impressive even though the war is used only as a way for Marie’s husband and suitors to come in and out of her life. Technically the film works, but the story lacks any real intrigue and seems to have looped Madame de La Fayette’s short story over and over again to the point of exhaustion.
