"LaReine Margot," or "Queen Margot," the winner of theCannes Film Festival Jury Prize, is a French movie with Englishsubtitles. Based on the book Marguerite de Valois by Alexandre Dumas,the movie portrays the epic role that one woman played in the history ofFrance.

The famous Isabelle Adjani plays Margot, the daughter ofCatherine de Medici (played by Virna Lisi), who is indirectly the rulerof France in the late 1500s. Her son, the king of France, is a weakleader under the influence of Gaspard de Coligny, a Protestant.Catherine and the king are Catholic, and the conflict between theirreligions tears apart the country.

All across Europe, especiallyFrance, wars are fought between Protestants and Catholics in theirstruggle for power. To make peace and unify France, Catherine forces herCatholic daughter, Margot, to marry her Protestant cousin, Henri deBourbon (Daniel Auteuil), the king of the French province Navarre. Thetwo hold an intense dislike for one another, and the marriage, intendedto make peace, only leads to more violence.

Margot is loyal toher Catholic family, but she resolves to be loyal to her husband, aswell. When her own family brutally kills Protestants in the Massacre ofSt. Bartholomew, and a brave, young Protestant (Vincent Perez) capturesher heart, Margot is torn between loyalty to her family, her new life asQueen of Navarre and her Protestant lover. Many times, Margot saves herhusband's life and shows more heroism than many queens of her time.Still, her torn loyalty is tested to the end, when the family shechooses to side with changes France's history

forever.

The acting is some of the best I have ever seenand the storyline is gripping. "La Reine Margot" is wellchoreographed with suspenseful music and ornate costumes. Some may findthe film too violent or graphic in its depiction of war and romance, butI commend its boldness because it more effectively portrays the life ofFrance in the 16th Century, which was filled with war, scandal,promiscuity and danger.

Truly a classic, this epic is not adainty movie about a peaceful empire, but a romantic, gory andsuspenseful drama based on historical events.



Thismovie is rated R.