This evening Arte broadcast “La Reine Margot”, a period film with Isabelle Adjani which has four versions of varying lengths. But which one did you see?
This evening Arte is broadcasting the feature film La Reine Margot by Patrice Chéreau, starring an excellent Isabelle Adjani in the lead role and an impeccable Daniel Auteuil in that of Henri de Navarre. But which version were you watching?
La Reine Margot takes place during the Wars of Religion of the 16th century and recounts the arranged and unhappy marriage between Marguerite de Valois known as “Queen Margot” and Henri de Navarre.
And in fact, Patrice Chéreau’s feature film has almost as many versions as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The version originally shown in May 1994 at the Cannes Film Festival and released in parallel in all theaters in France was finished in a hurry to be on time, and clocked in at 159 minutes.
Pathé
This rather rare duration for the time was highlighted among the criticisms made of the film to the point that the international distributor, Miramax, decided to cut 16 minutes and reduced La Reine Margot to 143 minutes. This montage, however “international”, was released in French cinemas in December 1994, barely seven months after the initial release of the feature film.
Years later, during the DVD edition of the film, Patrice Chéreau edited a “Director’s cut” which reduced the film to 154 minutes, almost its initial length. But it was not until 2013 that the feature film was finally restored in 4K with a final cut of 154 minutes, close to the original version presented in Cannes, with a few additional scenes and more music.
Pathé
It is this last version that you will see this evening on Arte, because the channel has decided to show the most recently restored version and the closest to the original cut that is. The version shown in Cannes has remained difficult to see since 1994.
For further
Remember that the story of La Reine Margot had already been adapted in 1954 by director Jean Dréville with Jeanne Moreau in the title role and Armando Francioli in that of Joseph Lerac de la Mole, played by Vincent Perez in the 1994 version. In particular, you can see Louis De Funès there well before he was known.
Pathé
The latter also came away glorious from the 1995 César with 5 prizes out of 12 nominations: Best actress for Isabelle AdjaniBest Supporting Actor for Jean-Hugues Anglade, Best Supporting Actress for Virna Lisi, Best Cinematography for Philippe Rousselot and Best Costumes for Moidele Bickel.
A great harvest which was initiated at the Cannes Film Festival, where La Reine Margot walked away with the Jury Prize and the Best Actress Prize for Virna Lisi.