Regie:
Roland JofféScenario:
Jeanne LabruneCamera:
Robert FraisseMuziek:
Ennio MorriconeActeurs:
Gérard Depardieu, Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Julian Glover, Julian Sands, Timothy Spall, Murray Lachlan Young, Hywel Bennett, Richard Griffiths (meer)Samenvattingen(1)
François Vatel is de trouwe en toegewijde bediende van de trotse maar oude, geruïneerde Prins de Conde. De prins wil Lodewijk XIV voor zich winnen om op die manier het opperbevel te krijgen bij een militaire ingreep tegen de Nederlanders. In dit kader vraagt de prins aan Vatel zich te ontfermen over de ont-angst van Lodewijk XIV en het Hof van Versailles op het kasteel van Chantilly. De feestelijkheden zullen 3 dagen en 3 nachten duren en moeten absoluut betoverend zijn. (A-Film Benelux)
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Recensie (1)
One of the last truly remarkable roles of Gérard Depardieu, who later ruined his reputation by not being able to say no, not only when offered something to eat. He took any role in obvious flops. Vatel is an elaborate costume drama set during the reign of the Sun King Louis XIV. Some mistakenly consider Vatel primarily a love story between Vatel and a charming court lady, but that is rather a side story. The main role is played by the question of where the limit is, at which subordination to authority causes a person to lose all self-respect. How far is it necessary to bow down to the tyranny of the more powerful? On one side stands the powerful ruler, on the other the one who refuses to be an object that can be lost in a game of cards. This movie directly emanates what the revolution in the US and especially in France opposed. Louis XIV, portrayed here as a self-indulgent bungler, was much more than just an extravagant despot. He was a prominent politician who made France the most significant continental power, very hardworking, with a strategic way of thinking. Expensive palace construction, pompous festivities, and ostentatious performances were rather meant to increase France's glory than an end in and of themselves. The film shows the dark side of life at the court, where everyone tried to gain the favor of the ruler at any cost and keep it. With its generous budget, it is also a spectacle, simply a film that can convey the luxury of the royal court with probably greater splendor than it actually had. Overall impression: 80%.
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