Farewell, My Queen [Blu-ray]

Not too bad; I couldn't imagine living back in the 1860's of France, when the people lived second to the royals; but yet, could raise such a bitter rage; to create a Revolution so overpowering, that the royals found themselves fleeing for their lives; only to become headless victim's; of course, aparently from not paying their due diligence, to the people! Because they lived in filth. 🎭

**** This movie is in French and subtitled in English!! ****Many pamphleteers and rumor-mongers asserted that Marie Antoinette had more than just a friendship with the Duchesse de Polignac, and this film is based on the idea that perhaps those rumors were true. Okay, actually it was a book first. I have not read the book (is there an English translation?) but I did enjoy this film. I have seen a ton of Marie Antoinette movies and Diane Kruger is definitely my favorite MA. So much more authentic than other portrayals. She is sensitive and compelling while also being flawed. Many movies portray MA as being either hard and cruel or totally innocent. Diane Kruger walks the line perfectly, shod in the loveliest of slippers.Hearing French rather than British and American accents blundering over words like dauphin and comte really adds to your suspension of disbelief, not to mention the whole story makes more sense!!! It just helps everything seem more real.If you enjoy the historical fiction genre or French films, pay no heed to those one star reviewers who don't like to 'read their movies'. A lazy mind would not appreciate this film anyway. Let them watch a Philippa Gregory adaptation. Even if you don't normally appreciate subtitled films, if you enjoy this genre, you will be glad you gave this one a try. The sets and costumes are luxurious, the story is exciting, the acting is wonderful. You won't regret taking a chance, even if the story isn't what you were expecting.Other reviewers have told you all about the plot of the movie so I'm not going to do that. If I mention anything they haven't, I may spoil things for you. I will just say that I've never seen a French film that wraps up the ending in a neat little bow like Hollywood movies do. It's a little bit unsatisfying for me, as after about an hour I'm attached to the characters and I want to know how everything ends for them. You kind of have to use your imagination. Some people get all bent out of shape over endings like this but I try not to, since it is just a movie after all. If you are frustrated by open endings, you might want to skip this movie.Lastly... I know very little French, but while watching this movie and reading the subtitles I realized that it was not perfectly translated. Some of the sentences and phrases were generalized or rearranged a little bit. Maybe to better fit the tastes of an American audience? Not a completely different translation that I could see, but it seems some little things were left out. Although, as anyone who has studied languages can tell you, there is no such thing as a perfect translation. Every story will lose some meaning in translation. But even so, this is a great film. I am considering purchasing this now, after having enjoyed the rental so much.

"Farewell My Queen" depicts the collapse of the French aristocracy at Versailles palace during the three days after the fall of the Bastille. It is told from the viewpoint of Sidonie Laborde, the Queen's lectrice, a servant whose job is to bring books from the Queen's library and read to her upon request.Sidonie, brilliantly acted by Lea Seydoux, is a young, clever and talented woman -- "always reading" another servant complains about her -- who is in love with Queen Marie Antoinette, while also nurturing a crush on a handsome male actor who works as a boatman on a Venetian gondola that traverses the palace's canal.We see Sidonie scurrying back and forth, between the servants' lives in the bleak cellars, attic bedrooms and backstairs, and the plush quarters of the Queen, traveling between two lives, like the rats that infest the palace. She slowly learns about the impending disaster -- the bread riots, the fall of the Bastille, the desertion of the King's troops -- from whispered hints in corridors. quick stories in the servants quarters, and conversations of nobles behind partly-closed doors.People begin disappearing from rooms and apartments where they have been fixtures for decades, quietly fleeing the court. Nothing and no one can be relied on anymore.Sidonie is gradually drawn into a desperate scheme of the Queen's to save Queen's woman lover, the Duchesse de Polignac, from execution. Sidonie's devotion is exploited by the Queen to place Sidonie in a very dangerous situation.The details of 18th century dress, etiquette, furnishings and class-linked behavior are meticulously observed, serving as a frame for a painful drama of betrayal and loss.I gave the movie a "4" instead of a "5" because I felt that Marie Antoinette was depicted as rather frivolous in some ways, as she had been perhaps 10 years earlier, in 1779.By the time the French Revolution struck in 1789, Marie Antoinette had reached her early thirties, seen two of her four children die, and had actually drifted apart from the Duchesse de Polignac into an affair with the handsome and honorable Count Axel von Fersen. Marie Antoinette was a much more serious person in 1789 than the movie suggests.But the details of life at Versailles and the tiny scenes in which life there collapses bit by bit over a three day period were excellent.

“I’m not going to get into any lavish details about this movie, or about it’s 1789 Revolution, but I will say, I do not think I’ve ever seen such fine acting in my life, from the three main characters, in this film,the set the costume the décor is brilliantly done to sooth your every mood, of that period,and the fall of the Monarchy, Diane Kruger” (Marie Antoinette) is bloody outstanding and Léa Seydoux”(Agathe-Sidonie Laborde”) was so enthralled to this character as the queen reader, sometimes embroiderer,add so much more to this movie, you wouldn’t care about it’s outcome, German born (Kruger) who you wouldn’teven think is German, in this movie, with her French accent floured me, it was that good, you have to see“Special Forces” with Diane Kruger, an Djimon Hounsou” she played a Journalist that was kidnapped by a warlord,in Afghanistan, when a group of French elite forces are sent in to rescue her, even if you don’t like the movie,watch the special features it was so amazing how long it took them to do that film,Widescreen 2.35:1 1080p High Definition.Runtime 100 Min. wish there were more.French 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. English Subtitles.Very Good Movie”

I really liked this piece, as it helped me to understand the moral/social norms of the time, and you feel as though you are getting a bit of a sneak peek into court life. The costumes are fabulous. The movie is a bit slow paced (if you are looking at it from American standards), but fabulously detailed.

Good acting.I love the history.

Great film, speedy delivery. Thanks a bunch!:>)

Très satisfaite. Merci à vous.