Director
Patrice Chéreau

Cast
Margot: Isabelle Adjani
Henri de Navarre: Daniel Auteuil
Charles IX: Jean-Hugues Anglade
La Môle: Vincent Perez
Catherine de Médici: Virna Lisi
Henriette de Nevers: Dominique Blanc
Anjou: Pascal Greggory
Coconnas: Claudio Amendola
Guise: Miguel Bosé
Charlotte of Sauve: Asia Argento
Alençon: Julien Rassam
Nançay: Thomas Kretschmann
Coligny: Jean-Claude Brialy
Condé: Jean-Philippe Écoffey
Orthon: Albano Guaetta

Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas père

The colourful lives and dealings of Europe's assorted monarchies are an obvious choice for film-makers attracted by the prospect of lavish costumes, court treachery and the obligatory bit of bed-hopping. Patrice Chéreau however, in his adaptation of Dumas' eponymous novel, takes a more realistic view of the machinations of the Medici court, creating a powerful film, thick with blood, intrigue and revenge, although the obligatory bed-hopping has more than the usual tinge of incest about it.

The film opens in Paris with the 1572 wedding of Margaret (Margot) de Valois, sister of Charles IX and daughter of Catherine de Medici, to the Protestant duke, Henry de Navarre. The forced marriage is designed to heal the Catholic-Protestant rift, but while in the throes of a fit, the semi-mad king declares that he wants the Protestant threat removed, a remark that leads to the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, a genocide that kills around six thousand Protestants, including many of the Huguenot guests at Margot's wedding. Margot assists and falls in love with a badly-wounded young Protestant, La Môle, whom she helps escape to Holland, while Navarre goes on to become close to Charles, leading to an assassination attempt by Catherine with a book laced with slow-acting poison which instead kills the king. La Môle returns for Margot but is instead charged with regicide and executed, leaving Margot to discover his decapitated body, and, appalled at Catherine's savagery, reconcile with her husband and join the Protestant cause.

Dark, theatrical, and with more than a hint of The Godfather about it, La reine Margot is an imaginative, dynamic retelling of a complex historical epic, and shows the talents of the leads Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil at their moving, melodramatic best.