The French Revolution (History Channel)

Director: Doug Shultz
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
On July 14, 1789, a mob of angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and seized the King's military stores. A decade of idealism, war, murder, and carnage followed, bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new world order.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION is a definitive feature-length documentary that encapsulates this heady (and often headless) period in Western civilization. With dramatic reenactments, illustrations, and paintings from the era, plus revealing accounts from journals and expert commentary from historians, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION vividly unfurls in a maelstrom of violence, discontent, and fundamental change. King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte lead a cast of thousands in this essential program from THE HISTORY CHANNEL®.

Narrated by Edward Herrmann (The Aviator, Gilmore Girls), THE FRENCH REVOLUTION explores the legacy that--now more than ever--stands as both a warning and a guidepost to a new millennium.

System Requirements:

Running Time 100 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version)

Average customer rating:

THE DREAMERS
perfect quality and cheap, too
Adequate productions, etc.
Great Movie!
House of 'Yes' in the War Zone or The First Tango in Paris

The Dreamers (Original Uncut NC-17 Version)
Starring: Michael Pitt (II) , Eva Green , Louis Garrel , Anna Chancellor , and Robin Renucci
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
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ASIN: B00023P4I8
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Amazon.com

A love letter to movies (and the French new wave of the 1960s in particular), Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers starts with a 1968 riot outside of a Parisian movie palace then burrows into an insular love triangle. Matthew (Michael Pitt, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), an expatriate American student, bonds with a twin brother and sister, Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel), over their mutual love of film--they not only quote lines of dialogue, they act out small bits and challenge each other to name the cinematic source. Matthew suspects the twins of incest, but that doesn't stop him from falling into his own intimacies with Isabelle. As the threesome becomes threatened, Paris succumbs to student riots. The Dreamers aspires to be kinky, but the results are more decorative than decadent; nonetheless, the movie's lively energy recalls the careless and vital exuberance of Godard and Truffaut. --Bret Fetzer

Description

From Academy Award®-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci (The Last Emperor, 1987), comes an erotic tale of three young film lovers brought together by their passion for movies -- and each other. When Isabelle and Theo (Eva Green, Louis Garrel) invite Matthew (Michael Pitt) to stay with them, what begins as a casual friendship ripens into a sensual voyage of discovery and desire in which nothing is off limits and anything is possible. Featuring an engaging, seductive cast, The Dreamers is a ?spellbinding, provocative feast!" (Ebert & Roeper)

Customer Reviews:

THE DREAMERS.......2007-07-01

Its tempting to try selling this film as the debut performance by the newest Bond girl Eva Green.

As an alternate, see my review, as well as this Amazon review by Bret Fetzer below mine.

Many would attempt judging this film as kinky with a sprinkling of frontal nudity and a menage a' trois scene thrown in (the NC-17) version. However, this Bernardo Bertolucci film would rather like to remembered as a love letter to the movies and to the average Parisian's intense love for good films. Using a backdrop of the 1968 student riots brought about by the firing of the director at the Cinematheque Francais - a temple for students and afficionados of art films, the story weaves into it the coming-of-age story of a bother-sister par and a young exchange student from America living together duing the heady days, and their evolving relationship.
-------------------------------
"A love letter to movies (and the French new wave of the 1960s in particular), Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers starts with a 1968 riot outside of a Parisian movie palace then burrows into an insular love triangle. Matthew (Michael Pitt, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), an expatriate American student, bonds with a twin brother and sister, Isabelle (Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel), over their mutual love of film--they not only quote lines of dialogue, they act out small bits and challenge each other to name the cinematic source. Matthew suspects the twins of incest, but that doesn't stop him from falling into his own intimacies with Isabelle. As the threesome becomes threatened, Paris succumbs to student riots. The Dreamers aspires to be kinky, but the results are more decorative than decadent; nonetheless, the movie's lively energy recalls the careless and vital exuberance of Godard and Truffaut". --Bret Fetzer
--------------------------------

perfect quality and cheap, too.......2007-05-13

For $5, a great film at an even better price...

Adequate productions, etc........2007-05-07

This was an ok flick...........always good to see up and coming artists and these were fine......Eva Green should definitely do more of these types........very sexy.....sequel might do better.........

Great Movie!.......2007-05-07

If you haven't seen it you should, if you have then you're already here to buy it.

Some of the finest modern film making, subtle, sensual, insightful.

Not a fan of the last 4 minutes though.. other than that better than great till that point.

House of 'Yes' in the War Zone or The First Tango in Paris.......2007-04-26

When Bernardo Bertolucci makes a new film, I want to see it. I know it will be visually beautiful, deep and meaningful. Even when he is not completely successful - his films are difficult to forget. It applies to "The Dreamers" (2003)

In this film, Bertolucci returns to Paris of 1968. His First Tango is as shocking as Last one - it received NC-17 rating for very open scenes of nudity, masturbation, sex, and the hints to incest. But it is not just about sex - it is about film itself. It was the time when Pauline Kael said, "Bertolucci and Brando have altered the face of an art form". It was the time when a crowd in Chicago would line up under umbrellas on the sidewalk, waiting in the rain to get into the next screening of Godard's "Weekend." It was the time when movie makers became the Artists. It was the time when closing down of the famous Cinematheque Francais in Paris by the government started the student culture riots which became the part of youthful rebellion all over the Western World.

Young American, Mathew, a devoted movie buff (Michael Pitt who by the opinion of several reviewers looks like cross between Leo DiCaprio and Macaulay Culkin. I found him looking more like young Roger Ebert would've. ) becomes friends with two French students and fellow movie lovers, twins Isabella (Eva Green, in a star making debut) and Theo (Louis Garrel) and accepts their invitation to stay with them at their apartment while their intellectual parents are away for vacation.

All three are big fans of movies - they not only talk about movies, they live their favorite scenes. "The Dreamers" is Bertolucci's love letter to cinema, and his irony toward people taking it so seriously that the real world is ignored.

When Matthew moves in with the twins, the result closely resembles "Last Tango in Paris". Much of the film's second half occurs in that apartment, as insular as Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider's more than thirty years ago. Flirting becomes passion becomes dark and dangerous games to see how far someone will go. The difference is that the kids of "The Dreamers" are not as complicated and interesting as Paul or Jeanne (especially Paul, one of the greatest performances by genius Brando).

With this wistful ode to sex, cinema, and the heated atmosphere of the '60s, Bertolucci has proved that he is still on the top of his game. I will be happily waiting for his next film.

Average customer rating:

No surround sound
Wonderful Film
Ze Red Violin & Ze Mahogany Bass
The Red Violin Resurrected
A stunning movie

The Red Violin
Starring: Carlo Cecchi , Irene Grazioli , Anita Laurenzi , Tommaso Puntelli , and Samuele Amighetti
Director: François Girard
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00008RV1S
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Product Description

Master violinmaker Nicolo Bussotti creates what will be his greatest achievement--a perfect violin, inspiring passion and obsession in every life it touches. Francois Girard's "The Red Violin" follows the imaginary history of this unique instrument as it travels across continents and through lives over the span of three centuries.

System Requirements:

Starring Carlo Cecchi, Colm Feore, Greta Scacchi, Jason Flemyng, Jean Luc Bideau, Samuel L. Jackson, Sylvia Chang

Directed by Francois Girard

Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.com

Mounted in high lavish style, from the opening strains to coda, The Red Violin pays homage to the careful uses of color and composition without bothering to support these qualities with any real substance. Oh, it's a class act on the surface all the way, while failing on nearly every other level to convince. The story tells the story, revealing precious little else. The 17th-century Cremonese instrument-maker Niccolo Bussotti finishes his final violin with a curious red varnish, the secret of which spans the film, yet will come as a surprise only to the very sleepy. The odd voyage of this unique violin through history is then explored from one episode to the next, from child prodigy to gypsies to Victorian virtuoso to a clandestine enclave of art lovers in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution. This is all framed by the violin's rediscovery in present day by instrument appraiser Charles Morritz (Samuel L. Jackson), for whom the perfect instrument strikes a resonant chord. The main scheme of the film, an object connecting a number of seemingly disparate stories, has been used many times, most notably in Max Ophuls's La Ronde. But while this approach is employed elsewhere to cause one scene to reverberate against another, The Red Violin is content to leave each episode thematically unconnected with any of the others. On the decorative level, the film may satisfy many viewers with its sensuous attention to tone and detail, as well as its eclectic and expertly performed score. But as narrative it is very slight. Just pierce the pretty crust of this puff pastry and gaze in wonder at the pocket of air within. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews:

No surround sound.......2007-05-29

I have seen this movie several times, and it is intriguing. The video portion of the dvd is fine. However, purchasers should be aware that the audio on this dvd is Dolby stereo only, not surround.

Wonderful Film.......2007-05-20

The RED VIOLIN is a beautiful film, witty and powerful. It traces the story of a violin as it is passed across many cultures and into the hands of many interesting characters.

The heart of this film is the score which, as a film of this title implies, features some incredible violin solos. Great musical performances by Joshua Bell and others giving this violin the majesty necessary to command its central role.

Ze Red Violin & Ze Mahogany Bass.......2007-05-15

One of the Best Movies Ever! Tracing the history of an exquisite instrument, this story is superbly told.
The use of foreign languages without English translations is a bit annoying, but very effective. You get the gist.
Samuel Jackson is excellent as the expert who discovers the famous violin in the present & sees that it gets where it belongs...
I recently purchased a 1953 violin bass which is the first year Gibson made an Electric Bass guitar. When I saw this gorgeous immaculate Gibson EB1 on ebay, with a Buy It Now price of 12 grand, I started thinking....I should buy it! I said to myself "but I'm left handed." Yes, but it's a perfectly balanced bass....it could be flipped & made lefty. When I remembered this movie, The Red Violin, I realized that this solid mahogany violin bass with f holes was a lot like the violin in the movie. I felt like Sam Jackson's character must have felt when he realized how special this great instrument is. It was quite a RUSH to click on that Buy It Now button!
I owe the makers of this movie a big thank you. THANK YOU!!!! 1953 is also the year I was born. MOJO, baby!
My daughter plays bass lefty too. She'll be inheriting this beauty when I check out. I gave her this movie.

The Red Violin Resurrected.......2007-05-15

Here is interpretation regarding "The Red Violin," which I hope helps you to gain insight into the movie's hidden meaning:

Charles Morritz (Samuel Jackson) is called on by a Montréal auction house to assess the value of a recently procured violin. His initial reaction is that the violin is the long-lost, world famous Nicolo Bussotti "Red Violin". In verifying its authenticity, the film flashes back to the birth of the violin...

Famous Italian violin maker Nicolo Bussotti (Carlo Cecchi) designs the perfect violin, originally intended for his unborn son, but he soon confronts the death of both his son and beloved wife while she is in childbirth. He subsequently varnishes the violin with a mysterious red pigment, and it makes its way across the continent of Europe, first appearing in an orphanage where a Mozart-like child prodigy Kaspar Weiss (Christoph Koncz) comes in possession of it. Ushered off to Vienna and poised on the precipice of worldwide fame, Weiss suffers a heart attack, and in memorial the violin is buried with him. Thereafter, his grave is subsequently looted and the violin is "resurrected" [Lazarus-like] by gypsies, who give it a home with them for some time before it is acquired by the Dionysian inspired red-haired musical genius, Frederick Pope (Jason Flemyng). When Pope injures the heart of his longtime lover Victoria (Greta Scacchi), the violin is damaged by a bullet...

A servant of Pope's eventually transports the red violin to the Asian Continent where it is purchased and used first as a teacher's aide, and then eventually given to a care-taker to hide during a Communist regime which fears the potential influence of aristocratic 'Western music' and the musical instruments used to create and disseminate it. When the Shanghai violin care-taker in possession of the red violin dies "upstairs" with all the angelic musical instruments he has been protecting from harm, the Chinese government confiscates the collection and places the instruments up for auction with Duval, a Canadian auction house.

Finding the red violin in its midst, two experts work to verify its authenticity, and when they do, a fierce bidding war takes place to see who will get the prized possession. But an article of such great value can only be held by someone who truly appreciates the truth of its "provenance and beauty"...

The plot is not conventional, but it is a moving tale about loss and rebirth [not always in its most obvious form)] There is the story of the creator, who, upon his wife's death, infuses the violin with his wife's body and soul. There is the young protégée who dies just before his great talent is discovered. There is the Diablo/Dionysian musical genius who gains musical inspiration from his passion. There is the secret music lover and her sacrifice for the love of her family and country. Finally, there is the violin expert who recognizes this instruments worth, and finds that it is what he has been searching for his whole life.

Remember that early in the film [in 1681], the famous "luthier" Nicolo Bussotti [17th century violin maker] smashes an employee's handiwork because it's only fit for ordinary people to play and therefore not worthy to carry his name; ironically his own personally crafted "perfect" masterpiece, the Red Violin, subsequently follows the exact path he demeans and goes on to provide the story of the film [i.e., his masterpiece ironically comes into the hands of "ordinary people" such as orphans, gypsies, an opium addict adulterer, a mother, a little girl, etc..].

Also in the beginning, Nicolo's wife, Anna Bussotti, tells her husband that he is jealous of her affair with "Luna [the Moon], but he exclaims, "no I'm not, because I know you will always return." Anna has her future read by her [gypsy?] house-servant. The Tarot card reader tells her she cannot predict her unborn child's future [because their "humors" (or "blood") are still the same. She therefore predicts a very long life for the wife with many exciting events of love, death, and passion. The actual scenes of the Tarot reading are performed well, and over the course of the film, we come back to this scene again and again; thus, the table upon which the Tarot are read becomes the stage.

Right after Anna's future is told, she and her child die, but her husband [the violin's creator] varnishes the violin [we later discover] with her blood, in order to resurrect her soul into an instrument that will soon speak the words of angels [namely, music and harmony]. From that moment, the truth of the fortune that was told Anna, now instead transfers to the blood of the violin [she has given birth to this red violin], and Anna Bussotti's soul guides the destiny of the violin in a long journey through time. As expected, therefore, all the predictions given to Anna, instead happen to the violin [i.e., by finishing the red violin with his wife's life blood, Bussotti has nailed the fate of each of the owners of the violin to the fate that the cards foretold to Anna]. Thus, throughout the film, just as foretold by the Tarot, the soulful and haunting music carries the viewer and her into the gifted hands of a "motherless and fatherless" orphan prodigy [query: was this the gifted son that the violin's master creator himself foretold or intended?], then to gypsies resurrecting the violin from the grave, giving it new life in their hands while roaming Europe, to the hands of the diablo, English virtuoso Frederick Pope, who plays her with a devilish flair. Again, as the cards foretold, she is tried, almost by fire [is almost burned in China], and when she finally yields her secret to Morritz [violin appraiser], another predestined link to a human soul is forged.

What this violin has is a soul, and a gift or a curse [i.e., an ability to totally possess its owner or those who come in contact with her]. Therefore the real star of this movie is the red violin, who is soulful, hauntingly enchanting, desirous, and ultimately pierces the lives of those who think they have possessed her, but in fact have become possessed by her.

All in all, the movie methodically develops a wonderful plot, which has a fantastic underlying message, but I do have two critical comments:

Firstly, the editing or proper lack thereof left the viewer completely confused at times. Certainly it was a monumental task to edit together all the different scene locations and historical time frames. I therefore do appreciate the effort that was put into the film by the editor [especially since this film is noteworthy in that it is only one of two films to ever contain more than four different languages spoken in it; and in which each of the languages remains true to the location and time where the action is being filmed]; but still I felt that a little more attention to editing would have made this film a shining gem, whereas it instead remains a diamond in the rough [waiting for the enlightened viewer to polish and properly cut it]. Perhaps the intention was to get the viewer to watch it a second time and with more understanding. In this regard, it succeeds.

Secondly, upon first impulse, I felt that Samuel L. Jackson was wrong for the part he played, and was he even acting or just grunting and scowling his way to a paycheck? He seemed so groundlessly angry and unpleasant, so miscast and unbelievable in his role that he distracted from the goings-on that should have held the attention at vitally significant times. For example, he plays the jet-setting violin broker who deals in antiquities that typically cost no less than 50 grand and, often, many, many times that. Jackson however handles this role as though he has just stepped off the set of "Pulp Fiction" and walked onto the set of "The Red Violin"- hot-headed, crude, impatient, and explosive, he embodies the exact opposite personality of one whose job involves dealing in fine antique instruments. My initial thought therefore was did the producer demand a big name draw? However upon further reflection, it all became clear that one should instead look at Jackson's character [Morritz] as the reincarnation or spiritual rebirth of Bussotti, the master creator of the red violin. Morritz shows the same temperament as Nicolo, and he also has a deep need - beyond the love of a fine instrument - to possess the violin. At the end, when Jackson rides away in the taxi with the moon [Luna] overhead - he is heading home to his wife and child - completing the circle full round from Nicolo, Anna and their unborn child; and profoundly confirming Nicolo's earlier statement to his wife Anna that despite her affair with "Luna," she will always return.

On a much higher plane, could this be the myth of the creator Osiris's rebirth [reincarnation or transformation of the master violin creator], through the journey of Isis [his divine female soul within the red violin], collecting all of the "lost" parts of the master violin creator during her journeys through time and through each of the characters [e.g., the heart of the child, the phallus of the red-haired master musician, the self sacrifice of the Chinese mother, etc..], which are all delivered and put back together to be transformed into the newest Creator now in possession of the violin?

In the end, I believe, the prodigal violin is grown old and wise, and she finally realizes the destiny that her creator intended.

A stunning movie.......2007-05-08

Visually and audibly stunning. This movie follows the path that the Red Violin travels through different era's of time.

Average customer rating:

French Revolution: Deadly Mixture of Tyranny and Enlightenment
IN THE TIME OF THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION
wonderful DVD on the french revolution
central to what we consider to be western civilization
Very educational

The French Revolution (History Channel)
Starring: Rodica Lazar
Director: Doug Shultz
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross
The First World War - The Complete Series
The History Channel Presents The War of 1812
A History of Britain - The Complete Collection
Empires - Islam: Empire of Faith

ASIN: B0007GP836
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Product Description

On July 14, 1789, a mob of angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and seized the King's military stores. A decade of idealism, war, murder, and carnage followed, bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new world order.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION is a definitive feature-length documentary that encapsulates this heady (and often headless) period in Western civilization. With dramatic reenactments, illustrations, and paintings from the era, plus revealing accounts from journals and expert commentary from historians, THE FRENCH REVOLUTION vividly unfurls in a maelstrom of violence, discontent, and fundamental change. King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte lead a cast of thousands in this essential program from THE HISTORY CHANNEL®.

Narrated by Edward Herrmann (The Aviator, Gilmore Girls), THE FRENCH REVOLUTION explores the legacy that--now more than ever--stands as both a warning and a guidepost to a new millennium.

System Requirements:

Running Time 100 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

French Revolution: Deadly Mixture of Tyranny and Enlightenment .......2007-07-05

The French Revolution, a DVD set by The History Channel, will be of interest to a wide audience. Well-done reenactments, paintings, interviews with leading historians, and the narration of Edward Herrmann help viewers get a better appreciation for the French Revolution and its impact on European and world history. The History Channel does a good job in covering the events, including the American Revolution, which led to the overthrow of the French monarchy and the establishment of the New Republic in the 1790s C.E. Furthermore, The History Channel explains well the interactions among the main protagonists of this bloody, chaotic, and transformative period. These protagonists were among others king Louis XVI, his wife Marie Antoinette, Jacques Necker, Maximilien Robespierre, Jean-Paul Marat, George Jacques Danton, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, and last but not least, Napoléon Bonaparte. To its credit, The History Channel clearly articulates the institutional developments at the apex of France and the vain attempts of the other European powers to nip the French Revolution in the bud. To summarize, this DVD set reflects with conviction on a watershed series of events that like the Industrial and American Revolutions thoroughly changed the course of human history forever.

IN THE TIME OF THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION.......2007-06-28

This year marks the 218th anniversary of the beginning of the Great French Revolution with storming of the Bastille on July 14th 1789. An old Chinese Communist leader, the late Zhou Enlai, was once asked by a reporter to sum up the important lessons of the French Revolution. In reply he answered that it was too early to tell what those lessons might be. Whether that particular story is true or not it does contain one important truth. Militants today at the beginning of the 21st century can still profit from an understanding of the history of the French Revolution.

There are many books that outline the history of that revolution. I have reviewed some of them in this space. Probably the most succinct overview, although it was written over one half century ago, is Professor Georges Lefebvre's study. For those who want a quick visual overview of the main events and political disputes the History Channel production under review has a lot to recommend it. The production covers all the main pre-revolutionary problems confronting France at the time, including its terrible debt problems caused in the main by its support of the American Revolution, to the political, social and, yes, sexual inadequacies of Louis XVI. As has been noted by many commentators on revolution, including myself, one of the prerequisites for revolution is that the old regime can no longer govern in the same way. The personage of Louis XVI seemingly fits that proposition to a tee.

The production goes on to highlight the key events. Obviously, and most visibly, the storming of the Bastille that opened up the cracks in the old monarchial regime. It details the struggle to create a constitutional monarchy through the various legislative assemblies that sought to carry out the reforms necessary to bring France into the modern age short of declaring a republic. And also the attempts, including by Louis himself, by forces of the old regime to return the old monarchy or stop the revolution in its tracks. When those efforts failed and the revolution began in earnest the production details the internal struggle by the revolutionaries, most notably the great fight between the Girondins and Jacobins for power, and the formation of the republic. After the defeat of the Girondins this led to the further fights to `purify' the revolution among the Jacobin forces and the reign of the Robespierre-led Committee of Public Safety that consolidated the gains of the revolution through the `Reign of Terror'. Finally, the downfall and execution of Robespierre in 1794 represented the reaction that most revolutions exhibit when the political possibilities for further leftward revolutionary moves are no longer tenable.

There are many great scenes portrayed here as well. The murder of Marat by Corday. The Festival of the Supreme Being. The oratory of Danton and many more scenes that give one a pretty good general feel for the dynamics of the revolution. Included are `talking head' comments by noted historians of the revolution giving their take on the meaning of various events. This is a plus. The major negative is in the axis of presentation. Almost fatalistically the emergence of Robespierre is intertwined throughout all of the earlier events giving the impression that he was inevitably bound to take power. And, also inevitably, due to the excesses of the `Reign of Terror' to lose it. This may be good documentary presentation form but it is bad history. Revolutions, particularly great revolutions, are few and far between. They are messy affairs at the time and as seen through the historical lens. Nevertheless if the social tensions in society could always, or should always, be resolved in a nice non- violent parliamentary way there would be no revolutions. Damn, where would that leave us as the inheritors of the sans-culottes tradition?

wonderful DVD on the french revolution.......2007-06-18

This DVD was extremely entertaining and very educational. I would highly highly recommend it if you are one who enjoys history.

central to what we consider to be western civilization.......2007-05-29

The French revolution was as earth shattering as any revolution that has ever happened. I know many Americans think the French are a bunch of Frogs who lost the first world war and laid down during the second, but they were a force to be reckoned with during the 17-19th centuries. The dvd gives clarity to those of us who were half awake during European history class Junior year of high school. Robespierre and Marat. The reign of terror. The guillotine. Mob riots. All sounds like a fun time or Los Angeles on a good day.

Very educational.......2007-05-12

I found this documentary very facisinating and extremely educational. It was also entertaining with the reenactments and historians that gave wonderful insight about one of the most violent periods in history.

Extras include "The Making of The French Revolution", which was also quite interesting.

Average customer rating:

A Tale of Two Cities
A marvelous example of David Selznick's way with literature, and why Ronald Colman was a star
A Tale of Two Cities
Movie of a literature classic
From the Producer of "Gone With the Wind".

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
Starring: Ronald Colman , Elizabeth Allan , Edna May Oliver , Reginald Owen , and Basil Rathbone
Director: Jack Conway , Robert Z. Leonard , and Jacob Leventhal
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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David Copperfield (1935)
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ASIN: B000GRUQL0
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Amazon.com

Ronald Colman isn't even on screen for the most famous lines of his career ("It's a far, far better thing I do..."), but such is the power of the moment and the performance that everybody remembers it anyway. A Tale of Two Cities was the follow-up for producer David O. Selznick and high-class studio MGM to their hit adaptation of another Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations. While not scaling the heights of that impeccable production, Tale gives a tight, straightforward reading of Dickens' story of the French Revolution. Colman plays the drunken romantic Sydney Carton, who pines for the lovely Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan) even though she marries former French aristocrat Charles Darnay (Donald Woods). Meanwhile, back in Paris, the Revolution erupts, and Darnay is fated for the guillotine... perhaps. Along with Colman's expert study in melancholy, the film is crammed with fragrant supporting players, such as Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, and the uniquely unsettling Blanche Yurka as the endlessly-knitting Madame Defarge. In a handful of scenes, Basil Rathbone makes the Marquis de Evremonde the quintessence of clueless privilege ("With what I get from these peasants, I can hardly afford to pay my perfume bill"). Journeyman director Jack Conway doesn't have the lovely touch that George Cukor brought to Copperfield, but Selznick hired him because "the picture is melodrama, it must have pace and it must 'pack a wallop.'" It still does. Footnote to film history: Selznick's assistant, Val Lewton, supervised the Revolutionary montage, and hired director Jacques Tourneur for the job; later they would team up on Lewton's great run of B-horror pictures, beginning with Cat People. --Robert Horton

Description

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." Charles Dickens' tale of love and tumult during the French Revolution comes to the screen in a sumptuous film version by the producer famed for nurturing sprawling literary works: David O. Selznick (David Copperfield, Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind). Ronald Colman (The Prisoner of Zenda) stars as Sydney Carton ? sardonic, dissolute, a wastrel...and destined to redeem himself in an act of courageous sacrifice. "It's a far, far better thing I do than I've ever done," Carton muses at that defining moment. This is far, far better filmmaking, too: a Golden Era marvel of uncanny performances top to bottom, eye-filling crowd scenes (the storming of the Bastille, thronged courtrooms, an eerie festival of public execution) and lasting emotional power. Revolution is in the air!

DVD Features:
Other:Oscar?-Nominated Short Audioscopicks 2 Classic Cartoons: Hey, Hey Fever and Honeyland Audio-Only Bonus: Radio Show Adaptation Starring Colman
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

A Tale of Two Cities.......2007-06-20

Conway's rich, peerless adaptation of Charles Dickens's famous novel ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times") succeeds on the merits of its lavish production design and exquisite, tone-perfect acting from the entire cast--overseen, of course, by MGM honcho David O. Selznick. Colman delivers his crowning screen performance as the cynical, boozing Carton, and when he utters the famously cathartic line "It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done," only the most hardened could fail to be moved. Great support from Blanche Yurka, Basil Rathbone, and Edna May Oliver make this a sumptuous gem worth visiting again and again.

A marvelous example of David Selznick's way with literature, and why Ronald Colman was a star.......2007-05-04

A Tale of Two Cities is an outstanding example of a film which in memory seemed great and a classic, but when seen again is just a classic. That's not faint praise, either. Jack Conway may be listed as director, but make no mistake...this is David O. Selznick's film. It carries his strengths with great emotional impact, but it carries Selznick's flaws just as emphatically. Thanks to Charles Dickens, we have a hugely empathetic tale of noble sacrifice and redemption, played out against the extremes of injustice represented by the French Revolution. Thanks to Selznick, that story has been brought to life with cinematic fervor, strong actors, melodramatic situations, vast and detailed settings, and a screenplay which may run for over two hours but which never loses our interest. But Selznick was a man who was convinced that if one blow of the cinematic hammer could drive a nail home, then two or three more would naturally do the job better. And so at regular intervals we have characters, major and minor, over-acting. We are left in absolutely no doubt of the nobility of the noble of the heart; how evil the evil are; how dedicated and chirpy the servants are; or when we should tear up, or smile at amusing antics, or be repulsed by the evil madness of the revolutionaries. Selznick even employs message cards to remind us where we are and what we should be feeling, a technique that went out of fashion with the death of the silent movies.

Still, A Tale of Two Cities is undoubtedly a classic of movie making. Thanks to Dickens and to Ronald Colman as Sydney Carlton, thanks to some vivid casting, thanks to a great mise en scene, as they say, and thanks to Selznick's showmanship and craft, one would have to be a cynic among cynics not to be carried away by Carlton's sadness and his natural nobility. Just as importantly, you'd have to be dead in the heart and head not to be moved by his sacrifice, at how Carlton redeems himself for a friend and the woman they both love. "This I know," he tells Lucie Manette one afternoon. "I would embrace any sacrifice for you and for those dear to you. Will you hold me in your mind as being ardent and sincere in this one thing? Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life to keep a life you love beside you." The courage he gives a young seamstress as they prepare to meet their deaths, the drum roll for the blade to descend, his walk up the stairs to the guillotine, those last words as the camera moves up from the crowds, up past the blade and up to the sunlit clouds...well, I was choking back tears. The ending is melodramatic, flawed for me by a syrupy score and by the over-acting of the young woman playing the seamstress. But, I'll tell you, it works.

It's Sydney Carlton who drives the movie. Without a first-rate actor with whom we can empathize and admire, the part would either be awash in self-pity or simply become tiresome. Ronald Colman may seem a bit old fashioned now. We've come to expect our heros to be much more direct, younger and less idealistically romantic. Colman exuded breeding and intelligence even when he was sword-fighting. He made no enemies of men and he gave women someone to dream about. His portrayal of the dissolute, drunken, self-loathing Carlton never falls into simple sloshing about or petulance. He can see himself with a clear eye and a sense of ironic understanding. He makes Carlton not only a man who has wasted his talents and his life, but a man who we are willing to believe is able to find redemption. That redemption is the unexpected love for Lucie Manette that even extends to deliberately sacrificing of himself to save the man Lucie Manette loves. His love for her is that great.

Selznick peopled his film with vivid caricatures. Some work, some don't. The greasy, revolutionary enthusiasts of the guillotine all begin to look and act alike. The haughty, mannered French aristos are so self-centered we wind up kind of admiring them, and the last scenes showing some of them being noble in the face of the blade is a little phony. Still, Basil Rathbone as the Marquis St. Evremonde wearing a white, powdered wig is a sight to enjoy. His concern for his horses, after they've just run down a peasant boy, is touching. "It's extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children," he says, with impeccable Rathbonian diction. "One or the other of you is forever in the way. How do you know what injury you might do to my horses?" And Blanche Yurka as Madame Defarge should make us all extremely wary of women who knit.

A Tale of Two Cities is nothing less than a marvelous, coarsened Selznick "literary" production. It remains an immensely watchable film. If it fails at being "great," it certainly ranks after seventy years as a classic. The DVD transfer looks very good. The extras include a couple of cartoons and a radio adaption of the story.

A Tale of Two Cities.......2007-03-09

Finding this movie on DVD was first a surprise and then a genuine pleasure. This is a time honored story brought to life on the screen with an excellent performance by Ronald Colman and a superb supporting cast. A Tale of Two Cities is a literary classic on its own merit but the cinematic version is just a pleasure and worth every penny for those that treasure movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. For devoted movie collectors this is a "must-have".

Movie of a literature classic.......2007-03-09

Good job of restoring and digitally remastering this movie. Fans of Charles Dickens and Ronald Colman will enjoy it.

From the Producer of "Gone With the Wind"........2006-11-03

The story of a family and a friendship in the French Revolution of 1789.

Based on the history novel of the great writer, Charles Dickens, who wrote "Oliver Twist" and "A Christmas Carol". Good script, and some likeable characters. A lively drama. A couple large-scale scenes.

The French Revolution was brought by: prior kings spending the country's money on wars, failed crops, starving peasants, hopelessness of renters farming for the wealthy, the seeming unconcern of some of the rich, and Courts favoring the rich over justice. Some 18,000 to 40,000 persons were executed by guillotine during the French Revolution. It meant death to have been a member of the "uncaring" rich, to be an aristocrat.

King Louis XVI married at 15-years-old, his wife of 14-years-old, Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette had been sent from Austria, all alone, at 14-years-old, leaving family and friends, to marry a young man she had never met. It is no wonder she turned to pleasures. They became king and queen at 20 and 19-years old. The king, himself, said "We are too young to rule".

Some revolutions start with good intent, such as democracy with land reform; giving hoarded land back to the peasants to farm and own. Then in the confusion, evil men struck, seized power, and formed a dictatorship. So in Russia, in World War I, 1917, Lenin and Stalin did not start the Russian Revolution. Rather, men who sought democracy, began the Russian Revolution, and were murdered by Stalin and Lenin, who then usurped power, lied, lied, lied, and oppressed the people. The French Revolution started with some good intent, but, out-of-control, lack-of-values, led to mob rule, and murder of innocent people. The French Revolution gave rise to Napoleon Bonaparte ten years later. Napoleon would lead over a million Frenchmen to their deaths in war. Napoleon saw 600,000 men die in his retreat from Moscow, during the harsh winter war.

This film also comes in a 5 movie set, of black & white, 1930's films, with: "Pride & Prejudice" (excellent), "David Copperfield" (very good), "Treasure Island" (good), and "Marie Antoinette" (some interest with sadness) within "Motion Picture Masterpieces Collection".

The "Scarlet Pimpernel"-1935 is an excellent film of this same subject, but much happier; starring Leslie Howard, who played Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind", and was a real-life spy in World War II; also starring the beautiful actress, Merle Oberon. A clever adventure.

Average customer rating:

How to Talk Dirty and Influence Friends...
THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR!
LOVED IT
Wonderful
Oooh! The Marquis de Sade

Quills
Starring: Michael Caine , Patrick Malahide , Pauline McLynn , Billie Whitelaw , and Geoffrey Rush
Director: Philip Kaufman
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CXPV
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Amazon.com

With bedroom eyes and the mischievous smirk of an insatiable roué, Geoffrey Rush is a perfect choice to play the Marquis de Sade in Quills, directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted by Doug Wright from his own stage play. Imprisoned in France's Charenton asylum at the turn of the 18th century, de Sade is a stately court jester in disheveled finery, and Rush imbues the role with the fierce urgency of a writer whose sexual fantasies are his sole remaining defense against repression and hypocrisy. Deprived of quill and ink, he writes with wine, then blood, then his own feces--a descent into madness or an impassioned refusal to be silenced? Quills embraces freedom of expression ("such beauty, such abomination," as one character notes) while affirming that all freedoms have a price.

De Sade smuggles manuscripts out of Charenton with help from Madeleine (Kate Winslet), a virginal laundress who relishes de Sade's scandalous prose--a divine irony since she was taught to read by asylum abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), whose desire for Madeleine is suppressed by Catholic propriety. The delicate dynamic of this trio is shattered by the arrival of Royer-Collard (Michael Caine, appearing somewhat comatose), a righteous hypocrite appointed to silence de Sade once and for all. It's all very engrossing as a piece of theater (which it still is, despite Kaufman's elegant filming), and although Wright's literate dialogue limits de Sade to zesty ripostes and sneering perversity, Rush's intensity ensures that the marquis's plight is no laughing matter. Quills has a point, makes it without condescension, and knows the difference between madness and passion. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Rush gives a tour-de-force performance as history's most infamous sexual adventurer, the Marquis de Sade. A nobleman with a literary flair, the Marquis lives in a madhouse where a beautiful laundry maid (Winslet) smuggles his erotic stories to a printer, defying orders from the asylum's resident priest (Phoenix). The titillating passages whip all of France into a sexual frenzy, until a fiercely conservative doctor (Caine) tries to put an end to the fun, inadvertently stoking the excitement to a fever pitch.

Customer Reviews:

How to Talk Dirty and Influence Friends..........2007-05-08

This is an engaging period piece based on one of the most amazing yet perverse characters in history - - The Marquis De Sade. - - While the subject matter of DeSade's books or DeSade himself might be enough to make a movie on (plenty of more titilating/less savory ones have!), "Quills" actually paints a much larger picture -- quirkily demonstrating a darker side of the Enlightenment - - one in which one can't briefly wonder if DeSade's works were merely an allegory of the age he lived, and not the writings of a madman (who indeed was writing from an insane asylum.) - - It is also the story of Abbe de Coulmier, the Pioneering priest who ran the Charenton assylum in the early 19th century and was commited to the (relatively) humane treatment of his patients, shunning more traditional methods which involved varying forms of torture and abuse. To boot it also turns out to be a very traditional tale of love and jeoulosy... but with with a somewhat horrific ending... All of this said though, one thing is important to understand: it is historical fiction... a play BASED on the life of the Marquis De Sade... I mention this because there is one thing that disturbs me about the film... Basically a lot of people interpret the movie as a film about "censorship" and "freedom of speech" - - yet clearly, as the film plays out DeSade is portrayed not only as a madman (which many would agree) but as a madman who's writings were *clearly* dangerous to society. Everytime he is read from, writes or even speaks, it is as if the devil has come down to earth... chaos breaks loose, fires erupt, and people are forcefully victimized from behind until he's made to shut up. - - Ultimately, DeSade's words destroys not only those he doesn't care about but those closest to him as well... and at the end, he learns a lesson, and everyone else who listened to his "filth" get their revenge too... In essence its a film about divine justice and how a person needs be be careful what they say lest their words come back to haunt them. So how can this be called a statement about freedom of speech? (If anything its a morality play about how words can come back to haunt people.) - - In conclusion, though, the movie is not really a story about a martyr of free speech... but rather an excellent play about a struggle of wills, as well as a tale of sin, repentence, punishment and love.... Taken as pure fiction, it is brilliant to that extent, but if framed as a tale of censorship and literary freedom, clearly God wins out in the end and Voltaire gets sent to hell.

Regarding the ending - - after the "climax" the film becomes a bit funny - - first intentionally, then unintentionally.... - - In fact, at times I wonder if the director had toyed with several different endings and decided to use them all... Cuckoo's Nest, Hitchcock, Erotic Fantasy, Irony... or how about something funny (bingo!)

As for the acting... it is intense... Surprisingly, the Marquis himself is rarely seen during the first 17 minutes of the film... but appears as a shadowy figure... When he finally does appear, Geoffrey Rush's gushes with the intensity and charisma one would have expected the DeSade would have exhibited. There is no letdown and it is no surprize that he got an Academy for that role.

The dialogue at times can be funny and campy (be sure to have a pen on paper on hand as you watch and learn how to talk dirty with literary elegance) - - of course, this is a film about Western Literature's first and foremost intentionally distasteful writer/philosopher - - the man who turned scandal into high art. - - and one who's mind as profound and imaginitive as it was... filthy - - however, while the libertine life is not totally overlooked, the film is about far more than this... and most of the more graphic portrayals in the film come across as satire moreso than erotica.

As a footnote, the genuine British accents really let you know you're in 18th century France !

All in all, a fantastic tale of ribaldry with a twist !

THE BEST FILM OF THE YEAR!.......2007-04-01

Yeah, Mr. Rush did an outstanding job as the Marquis De Sade, but the part that really surprises me is Michael Caine as the EVIL sonofabotch who...well, ya gotta see the film...when I heard Mr. Caine was slated to star in BATMAN BEGINS, I was kinda worried...but he nailed that part, too! I usually don't care for films that talk about films and their related counterparts (books, music etc.), but this film is FOCUSED and AMAZINGLY ENTERTAINING! My heart-rate went up by 10x for much of this film! It eloquently presents the importance of free speech and does a power-house job at entertaining the audience! I'm not sure what year this film came out, but I'm thinking it was somewhere around 2000 or 2001; I can't think of a better film that came out EITHER of those years!

LOVED IT.......2007-02-22

I bsolutely loved this film. Though not for the faint of heart, or the underage. I will re-watch this movie over and over.

Wonderful.......2007-01-31

This film is a must see. Outstanding acting by the entire cast, great period piece, fun, funny and horrific. Goffrey Rush at his best. Joaquin Phoenix demonstrates again how underated he is. Kate Winslet . . . What can one say about her that hasn't already been said? Michael Caine at his most diabilical.

Oooh! The Marquis de Sade.......2007-01-12

It was a darn good movie. Kate Winslett was good and so pretty. Geoffry Rush was the marquis, so believable! Not for the kiddies...

A Tale of Two Cities (Masterpiece Theatre, 1989)

Average customer rating:

Worth watching. Worth owning.
where to rent?
Good but not Excellent
Enjoyed this very much......
Accurate and touching film adaptation

A Tale of Two Cities (Masterpiece Theatre, 1989)
Starring: James Wilby , Xavier Deluc , Serena Gordon , John Mills , and Jean-Pierre Aumont
Director: Philippe Monnier
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
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ASIN: B00005N5RH
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Customer Reviews:

Worth watching. Worth owning........2007-06-21

Within my admittedly limited experience, Masterpiece Theater dramatizations of great books are well produced and faithful to the original. This is no exception.

Well, Dickens's famous opening lines, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times," etc. do not come at the beginning of the production but are inserted into a monologue by Sydney Carton shortly after the start of the second DVD. Otherwise, the plot, details, and characters seem much the same as I remember from when I last read the book several years ago.

My wife and I bought this set to help a young friend who is close to graduating from high school at a public school and therefore has problems with reading comprehension. We are well satisfied that she can watch this, then read, and perhaps profit in several ways.

Anyone looking for dazzling FX and computer-generated panoramics will be disappointed. This was made on a budget for television in 1989.

Otherwise, it is a capable -- sometimes very good -- and certainly a moving production. I think Dickens would have approved.

where to rent?.......2006-03-05

can anyone tell me where I can find this movie to rent in DVD?

Good but not Excellent.......2006-01-02

I was studying this novel at university, so I wanted to understand the novel more. The accent used in the movie are little strange for me, I wasnt able to understand some conversations. Also, here is no English subtitle, to know what they are saying. There are some differences between the movie and the novel, e.g Gaspard is mentioned in the novel to be a tall man, while he was shown to be little short man.

Enjoyed this very much.............2005-09-12

I was skeptical about an older movie with a cast of unknowns, but by the end of movie I loved every character. The actors in this movie are wonderful. And a great love story.

Accurate and touching film adaptation.......2005-03-12

This film version of A Tale of Two Cities is a masterpiece -- it faithful adapts Dickens' classic novel while holding out as a worthwhile movie in its own right through incredible performances from its lead actors. The plot of the novel has not been touched -- in filming Dickens' most tightly-plotted novel, a good decision. The acting is uncommonly good. Sydney Carton is fabulously done; James Wilby is to be commended for a wonderful and nuanced performance. I also found Madame Defarge particularly well-done; the actress playing her is SCARY! Considering Mme. Defarge's character in the book, I think her almost insane bitterness and sharp purpose is well-portrayed.

A couple of unique things about this film include its use of French actors to play French characters and British actors to play British characters. No contrived accents, and people actually look their nationality -- both important in such a highly political story. I also strongly support the decision to have Carton and Darnay played by different people; yes, they're supposed to look alike, but not identical. And having different actors play them facilitates the portrayal of their very contrasted characters.

I am admittedly coming from the perspective of one who read and loved the book years before seeing the movie; I can't judge what this film would be like to someone who has never read the novel. But I found it an accurate and sensitive adaptation of the book I know and love, and I imagine that the beauty of the story would appeal just as easily to someone experiencing the story for the first time.

Marie Antoinette: A Film by David Grubin

Average customer rating:

What did she realize?
A well detailed documentary on Marie Antoinette
Anuphab Phraewphanarai - Bangkok, Thailand
"Tribulation first makes you realize who you are"

Marie Antoinette: A Film by David Grubin
Starring: Patricia Kessler , Barbara Scaff , Caroline Bernard , Philippe Altier , and Blair Brown
Director: David Grubin
Manufacturer: PBS Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000GH3CQG
Release Date: 2006-11-28

Description

This is the story of a callous monarch, swept to her death in the torrent of the French Revolution. It is also the tale of a fragile young woman struggling to find herself during one of the most turbulent moments in human history. Filmed in France and Austria, with rare access to Versailles, Le Petit Trianon, and the Austro-Hungarian palaces of her youth, Marie Antoinette will tell the intensely human story of the often misunderstood monarch who was beheaded during the turbulence and horror of the French revolution.

Customer Reviews:

What did she realize?.......2007-03-01

As far as the facts of Marie Antoinette's life this movie is the best, but I have to take issue with the idea of her 'inner transformation', never once in her life did she concede to doing anything wrong. Ultimately she was the primary cause of the French Revolution, she was willing to see her family killed, the Monarchy destroyed, and France thrown into turmoil, rather than accept that she hadn't been chosen by God to rule France

A well detailed documentary on Marie Antoinette.......2006-11-18

I never really given much thought to Marie Antoinette. All I knew about the former queen of France was that she was beheaded after found guilty of various crimes ranging from corruption to treason. After I saw the lifeless Sophia Coppola film "Marie Antoinette", my curiousity about the former queen was piqued. This PBS documentary was aired not too long ago but I missed seeing most of it. I was fortunate to find a copy to rent through the web based rental service I use.

I found "Marie Antoinette" the documentary far more engaging. The life of Marie Antoinette is indeed fascinating. She almost reminds me of Paris Hilton of her day with her lack of intellectual curiousity and love of frivolous spending and other means of pleasure. It is hard not to see the comparison between the deceased queen of France and the current queen of overexposure.

In the PBS documentary, the filmmaker goes further in depth of Marie Antoinette's life after she and Louis tries to leave Paris, France and eventually their gruesome fate at the hands of the guillotine. I would have liked to have heard more about Marie's life prior to her marriage to Louis (like it was covered in thorough detail in Antoina Fraser's book). Blair Brown does a superb job as narrator. I found this documentary extremely well produced and thought out. There are other documentaries on Marie Antoinette but I only imagine that they would be not as good as PBS's two hour documentary on Marie Antoinette. I had fun learning about Marie Antoinette which led me to check out more books and documentaries about the former queen of France.

Anuphab Phraewphanarai - Bangkok, Thailand.......2006-11-09

This documentary on Marie Antoinette was superb. When I turned it on, I was glued to the screen. I accept the fact that this documentary does not show many actors completely acting out a scene, but along with the narrators and original paintings of the past, you can picture the whole story in your mind. In other words, the paintings and the pictures of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI told everything of what had happened. It is just like reading a comic book without text. You can just weave the picture together yourself. I did not regret ordering this two hour film on Marie Antoinette, and I suggest that whoever is interested about France's history, should not miss the life story of Marie Antoinette

"Tribulation first makes you realize who you are" .......2006-09-27

Marie Antoinette was born November 2, 1755 in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of Francis Stephen I and Maria Theresa Emperor and Empress of the Holy Roman Empire. Marie Antoinette was brought up believing her destiny was to become queen of France, the hope of forging an alliance with the two countries. She married the crown prince of France in 1770. Four years later she became queen when her husband was crowned King Louis XVI

One of the most interesting facets of this two-hour special on Marie Antoinette was that she never said the famous line "let them eat cake." In fact, the poor Marie was remarkably naive about the needs of the French peasantry and even about her adopted country. Living in a secluded life in the palace of Versailles, she had never seen the sea and spent most of her short life confined within the walls of the palace and gardens.

This fascinating documentary, which aired on PBS last night - in preparation for Sofia Coppola's big-screen dramatization, starring Kirsten Dunst - expels many of the myths associated with this deeply misunderstood Queen. She was indeed only a child - just fifteen - when her mother Maria Theresa married her off to the teenage Prince Louis.

Naive about the role of a Queen, Marie a woman of great charm and beauty, spent much of her time gambling and partying, spending money from the public coffers, oblivious to who paid for it all. The fact that Louis was Unable to produce a heir was a source of great consternation in the court, and as the years went by with still no child, Marie found an outlet by building a private world on the Versailles grounds, Le Petit Trianon, a private retreat where she could get back to nature.

Children did eventually come, but it didn't help the status of the monarchy, especially in the eyes of the public, who viewed Marie and her moneyed dalliances as responsible for much of the crises in the country. Louis was an incompetent and bumbling King, who found it hard to make decisions. With the political and social ideology of France quickly changing, Louis and Marie were urged to limit their power, and help contribute to forming a constitutional monarchy but they remained stubbornly tied to the strictures of the past.

Marie offended many of the nobles, adding their denunciation to the scandalous stories spread by royal hopefuls. It was the nobility that balked at the financial reforms the government ministers tried to make, not the King and Queen, who were in favor of change. In truth, Antoinette and Louis' fate were sealed by the irrevocable march of history, innocent porn's caught up in the winds of change.

Both Louis and Marie ended up guillotined, but in the meantime Marie grew as a woman, a mother and a monarch, the irony being that she was much more of a Queen when she was stripped of her royal status and awaiting trial in Paris.

Actress Blair Brown narrates this gripping film, while historians Antonia Fraser, Simon Schama, Evelyne Lever, Antoine de Baecque and Fanny Cosandey and novelist Chantal Thomas provide much of the interesting narrative about the tragic life of this beautiful and much misconstrued woman. Mike Leonard September 06.

Average customer rating:

THE DREAMERS
perfect quality and cheap, too
Adequate productions, etc.
Great Movie!
House of 'Yes' in the War Zone or The First Tango in Paris

The Dreamers (R-Rated Edition)
Starring: Michael Pitt (II) , Eva Green , Louis Garrel , Anna Chancellor , and Robin Renucci
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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