Queen Margot

"She was the wife of a king… and the lover of a soldier."

1994 2h 18m FR

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

82%

FRESH

⭐

7.4

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 441🍅82%Rotten Tomatoes★7.4IMDB · 20,183

DramaHistoryRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Paris, Kingdom of France, August 18, 1572. To avoid the outbreak of a religious war, the Catholic princess Marguerite de Valois, sister of the feeble King Charles IX, marries the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre.

“She was the wife of a king… and the lover of a soldier.”

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Cast

Isabelle Adjani
Margot
Daniel Auteuil
Henri de Navarre
Jean-Hugues Anglade
Charles IX
Vincent Perez
La Môle
Virna Lisi
Catherine de Médicis
Dominique Blanc
Henriette de Nevers
Pascal Greggory
Anjou
Claudio Amendola
Coconnas

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Patrice Chéreau
Writers: Danièle Thompson, Patrice Chéreau, Maxime Rebière
Languages: French, Italian
Countries: France, Germany, Italy

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Italy.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Patrice Chéreau, shot by Philippe Rousselot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Goran Bregović. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor François Gédigier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil and Jean-Hugues Anglade carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "She was the wife of a king… and the lover of a soldier.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Patrice Chéreau directs. Philippe Rousselot behind the camera. Goran Bregović scores. François Gédigier cuts. Produced in France, Germany, Italy. Dialogue in French, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

132 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: French, Italian.
3International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Italy.
4Directed by Patrice Chéreau, shot by Philippe Rousselot. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Goran Bregović. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor François Gédigier shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Isabelle Adjani and Daniel Auteuil and Jean-Hugues Anglade carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "She was the wife of a king… and the lover of a soldier.".
9IMDB entry: tt0110963 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "paris, france", "based on novel or book", "marriage of convenience", "royalty".

The technical file

Cinematography: Philippe Rousselot
Original score: Goran Bregović
Editing: François Gédigier
Production design: Richard Peduzzi
Makeup / hair: Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen
Stunt coordinator: Philippe Guégan
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Status: Released
Box office: $1,318,578
Original language: FR
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Queen Margot (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes: 82% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.4/10 · 20,183 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 9 wins & 16 nominations total

César Award for Best Costume Design
César Award for Best Supporting Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Patrice Chéreau

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-01-14
★ 7/10
Despite the fact that for much of this I hadn't really much of a clue who was trying to outmanoeuvre whom, I thoroughly enjoyed this historical dose of state sponsored murder and mayhem. Presided over by the imperiously devious Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi) we follow the machinations at the French court of her sons as they vie for power in France and in Navarre whilst reconciling the growing number of Huguenots (Protestants) in their midst demanding an end to the power of the Catholic church over the state and the poverty stricken people. It's to that end that she marries off her eponymous daughter, Margaret de Valois to the fairly insipid King Henry of Navarre (Daniel Auteuil). He's a puppet for just about everyone and she has little interest in the marriage from the outset. She gets her kicks from the handsome and possibly the most chivalrous of her associates - La Môle (Vincent Perez) but we all know that they are but pawns in brutal game where lives at just about every level of society mean nothing at all! Assassinations, poisonings, rapes - nothing is off limits as this story of power-crazed depravity and scheming soldiers on for just over 2½ hours of blood and sweat and - well that, too! Isabel Adjani delivers a career best performance in the title role, but Auteuil and her brother Charles IX (Jean-Hughes Anglade) also help to deliver the thrust of the story well and entertainingly. Beware, it's no history lesson - if you're looking for factual accuracy then you might be wasting your time. It's a scandalous exposure of absolute dynastic rule that treats tragedy and joy with equal short-termism. The production looks great - it's actually quite uncomfortably difficult to watch at times, but if you like your history gritty, dark and uncompromising then Patrice Chéreau has created something well worth watching. Big screen is certainly best if you can, too.

Production companies