The Affair of the Necklace
by Charles Shyer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Adrien Brody, Brian Cox, Hilary Swank, Jonathan Pryce, Simon BakerDirector: Charles Shyer
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Charles Shyer
Producer: Andrew A. Kosove
Producer: Broderick Johnson
Producer: Kira Davis
Producer: Nava Levin
Producer: Nigel Goldsack
Writer: John Sweet
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of The Affair of the Necklace
Movie Review: Very fun intro to the intricacies of the pre-Revolutionary Court of Louis XVI
Summary: 4 Stars
The reviewers were awfully hard on this one. I must admit that I found it an excellent and fascinating entertainment, a stimulus to look into the historical sources as there are obviously inaccuracies.
I liked Swank's interpretation of the character. She has a mission - perhaps even lying to herself, it is unclear - and needs a mentor to learn the ropes of the Court intrigues. She finds one in a gigolo, for whom she also apparently grows to have genuine affection. They form a team with her husband, to steal a necklace as a way to gain political clout. Along the way, they expertly con a corrupt Cardinal, whom they play for a fool via his outsized ambitions and appetites, enlist a sleazily funny magician/seer to help, and create a scandal of historic proportions. Once caught, everyone falls, including the monarchy.
What is so fun is the portrayal this offers of the way that government worked at the time, from aristocratic privilege to reward and punishment. in social and historical context. I found it fascinating, though would have wanted much more detail, which I can only get from books. The scandal was a catalyst that ended a monarchy that was rotten already.
Regarding the characters, the film adds much detail that can never be known. Thus, it is historical fiction. La Motte-Valois is ambitious and uses the leers available - sex, lies, and fraud. We do not know what she personally thought, etc. I found the acting uniformly excellent and subtle, with many layers that can be peeled away at later viewings. Perhaps she was a whore and simple con artist, perhaps her motives were noble to her. I liked the mix of motivations and characters. Her libertine husband is hilarious, her lover-mentor kind of sad in his love. The house minister is convincingly shrewd.
Recommended warmly for lovers of history and political intrigue.
Summary of The Affair of the Necklace
A romantic drama based on the controversial true story of Jeanne De La Motte Valois a countess whose name was stripped from her by the Royal Family during the late 18th Century. The story of her fight to restore her name and proper place in society is filled with mystery intrigue and desire with an infamous diamond necklace at the center of it all.Running Time: 118 min.System Requirements: Running Time 118 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DRAMA Rating:?R UPC:?085392129225For all its earnest intrigue, historically accurate references, and elaborate set design, The Affair of the Necklace is best enjoyed as a comedy of Hollywood errors. The court of late-18th-century France is ruled by Marie Antoinette (Joely Richardson), whose confidence and favor is yearned for by Jeanne de la Motte-Valois (Hilary Swank), a young woman stripped of her title and orphaned at a young age. As flashbacks repeatedly remind the audience, Jeanne is essentially pure at heart even as she takes up with a court gigolo (Simon Baker) and enacts the intricate scheme from which the title is drawn. Soon embroiled in Jeanne's plan to win back her rightful place in the world are her avaricious husband of convenience, Nicolas (Adrien Brody); the soon-to-be-disposed-of Marie Antoinette; the salacious Cardinal Rohan (Jonathan Pryce); a necklace of questionable taste; and a host of other players. All the makings for a hilarious romp (? la Ridicule) are in place, but director Charles Shyer, with his lavish budget in tow, wants the film to be taken seriously. Only Christopher Walken, in a hilarious turn as the fraudulent soothsayer Count Cagliostro, sees through the facile script and relishes his part in what will no doubt prove a colossal flop. --Fionn Meade
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