The Princess of Montpensier (2010)

The Princess of Montpensier (2010)

Marie de Montpensier: It's madness.
Henri de Guise: Not madness. We gave ourselves to one another.

Marie: Mr. de Guise burns for me again.
Chabannes: You’re not to blame -
Marie: And I’m delighted.
Chabannes: It’s your good fortune I’m the first to note your satisfaction, which condemns you.  Imagine meeting the Prince in your present state.



The Princess of Montpensier is a French movie about a fictional character, Marie de Mézières (played by Mélanie Thierry, who also played the Duchess of Portsmouth in The Last King), living during the time of King Charles IX of France.  The characters she interacts with are mostly all real people (with the exception of Count de Chabannes), but since she didn't exist, obviously these interactions are made up.  I don't really get the point of this, as there were plenty of real historical figures with more interesting lives that could have served as the main character, but c'est la vie.

Marie suffers the drama inherent in being irresistible to men.  All the men around her fall in love with her.  She loves Henri, the Duke de Guise, a wild, passionate young man who is not very steady.

Marie and Henri de Guise.

Marie weds the Prince de Montpensier.

She is married to the Prince de Montpensier.  We never really get to know him.  He seems like a nice young guy, and if she'd given him a real chance, maybe it could have worked out.  He frequently acts jealous, at one time saying, "In any event, I found you together.  Together.  He didn’t take his eyes off you, caressing you with his gaze.  Yes!  And you smiled!  Must I remind you your husband was at that table?  I have longed for a smile from you.  Foolish hope!"  But this seems justified considering the Duke de Guise continues to pursue his wife with a fervor and she does nothing to discourage the behavior.  In addition, Montpensier's mentor, Count de Chabannes, who is supposed to be tutoring Marie while living under the protection of Montpensier after being labeled a traitor and a deserter, also falls in love with her, though he is rebuffed romantically:

Chabannes: All this daily happiness has blinded me.  I should have fled.  I thought age had released me from the grip of passion.
Marie: Are you saying?
Chabannes: Yes, Madame.  I love you.
Marie: You quickly forget your own teachings.  Isn’t the world’s equilibrium assured by small stars which keep their place in the celestial hierarchy?  Your words are forgotten.  They must have been due to the fatigue of reading and study.  We won’t discuss it again.

It's a shame, as he is the only one who really knows and cares for her as she is.

Sketch of the real François, Duke of Montpensier
and a sketch of the real Henry I, Duke of Guise.

The Duke d'Anjou, and future Henry III, is another spurned potential love interest.  When Anjou finds Guise and Montpensier in the middle of a duel over her, he scolds them: "Who allows you to risk your lives so stupidly?  A rankling grudge.  Forget it!  I, too, for the same reason harbor a grudge against Guise.  But I am able to muzzle it.  Were I King of France, I would perhaps disobey myself.  If you cross swords again, I’ll have both your heads taken off."

Chabannes and Marie.

Catherine de' Medici, mother of Anjou and of the King, also makes an appearance, informing Marie of Guise's relationship with her daughter, Margot, and advising her to forget him: "You are under the pull of two conflicting forces.  Saturn and Venus.  Rectitude, reason, the law on one side.  Desire, sensuality, the body on the other.  Which will prevail?  One cannot shun one’s destiny."

Portrait of the real Duke d'Anjou, later Henry III of France,
Anjou and Catherine de' Medici, and a portrait of the real Catherine de' Medici.

It all takes place amidst the war between the French Catholics and the Hugenots, so there are some good battles, but otherwise there isn't all that much to the story other than men pining after Marie and Marie foolishly thinking that the Duke de Guise's love is of the steadfast sort.

The costumes were beautiful, and I liked the actor that played the Count de Chabannes; otherwise, there's not all that much to it.

Promotional photo of Marie
surrounded by (from left)
Chabannes, Montpensier,
Duke d'Anjou, & Henry de Guise.