An average movie

To be honest, it has been ages since I have seen this flick. Still, I remember it pretty well when it was released in France. Indeed, it is nowadays pretty much forgotten but, back then, there was quite some buzz about this movie in my homeland before its release. Basically, it was another prestigious and ambitious costume drama from the guy who delivered ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ a few years before. In fact, it was even the most expensive French movie ever made up to that point (for 26 millions euro, it was still pretty cheap compared to any US blockbuster) and the expectations were pretty high. Eventually, even though it was a box-office success, it turned out to be a decent costume drama but not really much more than that, I’m afraid. Maybe we could blame the young and rather inexperienced Olivier Martinez who was just starting his career at the time. Eventually, Martinez wouldn’t stay much longer in France and he would be one of the very few French actors who spent most of his career with some international productions. Unfortunately, he would be mostly remembered for his high profile relationships with various celebrities (Halle Berry, Kylie Minogue, Mira Sorvino, Juliette Binoche, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley,…). Anyway, to conclude, even though it never reached its full potential, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.