 | Starring: Hilary Swank, Jonathan Pryce, Adrien Brody, Joely Richardson, Christopher Walken Director: Charles Shyer Format: Closed-captioned Colour Dolby PAL Surround Sound Released: 09 Sep 2002 RRP: Average Rating:  |
Hilary Swank plays Comtesse Jeanne de la Motte-Valois, the direct descendent of a previous French monarch, whose family, the Valois, was stripped of its lands & title by the current King Louis XVI in a spasm of royal vengeance. Now, wanting the family estate back, our heroine haunts Versailles seeking an audience for her petition. But the King carries a grudge, so no lackey of his with any power is prepared to listen. Then Jeanne meets Retaux de Vilette (Simon Baker), a young & handsome court insider who advises her to learn what the movers & shakers want. With that knowledge, she can leverage what she wants.
Well, as it so happens, there's this ab fab diamond necklace that a couple of fawning jewelers wish to sell to Queen Marie Antoinette (Joely Richardson), otherwise they're out the considerable costs associated with the stones' acquisition. But Marie, knowing it was originallly crafted for another Babe, scorns the offer. She only wants the Paris Mob, which desires her head on a platter (so to speak), off her back. Then there's Cardinal Louis de Rohan (Jonathan Pryce), who otherwise spends his time giving willing young mademoiselles, um, energetic one-on-one religious instruction. The good Cardinal wants to be made Prime Minister, an office apparently within the gift of the Queen, but she's hated his guts for years. Finallly, there's Count Cagliostro (Christopher Walken), a friend of de Rohan's & reputedly a powerful seer of future events, who's willing to spin a good vision if the price is right. Now sufficiently educated, the Comtesse hatches a scam with de Vilette & her own philandering & usuallly absent husband (Adrien Brody) to get her birthright back.
As I've said, one will perhaps appreciate THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE only after accepting the dubious premise of profound gullibility on the part of France's #1 Catholic primate, & Jeanne's incredible naiveté in believing her house of cards won't collapse in the first breeze of scrutiny. Swank's de la Motte is pretty & vulnerable, but perhaps too innocent as the injured & righteous party to be real. Pryce has the most interesting role as the randy, ambitious & impressively liveried prelate. Indeed, the film's costuming is first rate. And there are memorable visuals, as the meeting between Jeanne & Marie Antoinette in the courtyard of the Bastille in gently flurries of snow, & the progress of a marvelously caped de Rohan down an ornate courtier-filled halll after being tossed out of a royal audience.
I liked this film as a video diversion to watch over two dinner hours . And it piqued my curiosity about the facts surrounding the real story. Intellectual stimulation is a good thing.
The leading jewelers of the day, Charles Boehmer & Paul Bassenge, had wanted Marie Antoinette to buy an elaborate & very expensive, multi-looped diamond necklace, weighing approximately 2800 carats. This necklace, which had six hundred & forty seven diamonds, had purportedly been designed for Madame Du Barry, the mistress of Marie Antoinette's father-in-law, the late King Louis XV, & a woman she despised. Marie Antoinette was not at alll interested in this necklace & made herself quite clear to the somewhat desperate jewelers, who had invested much of their capital in this necklace.
In the film, a young woman, Jeanne St. Remy de Valois (Hilairy Swank), who callled herself a Countess by virtue of her marriage of convenience to a certain rake, Nicolas de La Motte (Adrien Brody), wanted to get back her father's estates, which had been taken by the crown after he had been, she believed, wrongfully executed for his perceived political beliefs. She was obsessed with righting this wrong & regaining her family's lost honor.
When she was unable to secure that which she so desired, she took up with a court gigolo, Retaux de Vilette (Simon Baker). With his assistance, she concocted an elaborate scheme, rife with political intrigues, & secured possession of the notorious diamond necklace under the ostensible color of Queen Marie Antoinette's authority. This theft ultimately came to light, & she & her cohorts were arrested in this matter, although the necklace was never recovered. This would lead to a sensational trial, because her accused accomplice in the matter was none other than Cardinal Louis Constantin de Rohan (Jonathan Pryce), a prince of France.
The film, woodenly directed by Charles Shyer, centers around the character, Jeanne. Unfortunately, Hilairy Swank is unable to carry the day. Her portrayal of Jeanne is one dimensional. She also seques back & forth between her obvious American accent & a pseudo-British one. To sum up her performance in a nutshell, it is sub-par. An otherwise excellent actress, she is simply out her element in this period film, because she is unable to overcome her contemporary veneer.
Of course, as she is the centerpiece of the film & fails, so does the film, no matter how well meaning the endeavor. Of course, she had help, as the script has its problems. There is very little tension for a film that is about one of the greatest thefts ever conceived. Not even the delicious performance of Jonathan Pryce, as the dissolute Cardinalde Rohan, can overcome some of the fundamental flaws in this film. Still, there are some intriguing moments in the film, & those who enjoy period pieces & historical dramas may get a modicum of enjoyment viewing it.
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