Set in the high courts of 16th Century France, where the wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants are raging. Marie de Mézières, a beautiful young aristocrat, is in love with Henri de Guise, but her hand in marriage is promised to the Prince of Montpensier.
How can the 16th-century heroine of a movie based on a 17th-century novella feel like such a 21st-century woman - without seeming at all anachronistic? That's the wonder of Bertrand Tavernier's "The Princess of Montpensier.''
– Mark Feeney,
Boston Globe,
19 May 2011
rotten:
There is more than a trace of ennui in a story that gallops at times and plods along at others.
– Bruce Demara,
Toronto Star,
3 Jun 2011
fresh:
Swords cross, blood spurts and bosoms heave in The Princess of Montpensier, French director Bertrand Tavernier's thoroughly ravishing drama.
– Jennie Punter,
Globe and Mail,
3 Jun 2011
rotten:
An engrossing subplot tracks the older man's chaste devotion to the young man's wife, which Tavernier parallels with his love of Christ; unfortunately the routine love triangle takes up most of the screen time.
– J. R. Jones,
Chicago Reader,
3 Jun 2011
fresh:
Functions swimmingly as an ambiguous study of wrongly diverted passions.