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Catherine de Medici & Valois family in other films/shows

posted 9 years ago by wolfmh
3 replies | jump to latest

The first time I saw this film I was a bit disappointed in how Catherine came off as a one-dimensional villainess, since I personally think she wasn't in charge of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (and I don't think anyone would have willingly started that blood bath if they knew all the problems it would cause). Catherine de Medici is a really fascinating figure, even if she is cast as the antagonist in this film.

But when I watched the film for a second and third time, on these repeated viewings I saw that Virna Lisi gave a better rounded, multi-faced performance than I had originally thought. The expression on her face when she realizes that she has accidentally poisoned her son Charles is heartbreaking, you can see the shock and the horror come over her when it hits her.

If anyone is interested in seeing a more sympathetic and multi-faced portrayal of Catherine de Medici, watch Reign, a Canadian/American/British historical-fantasy-drama for teens. The first few episodes, the costumes, and the music will throw you for a loop at first, but if there is one thing this show gets absolutely right it's Catherine--she's sneaky, clever, brilliant, dangerous, loving, cynical, and a force to be reckoned with. Her one-liners are both hilarious and intelligent. Her scenes with her husband Henri II are filled with this quick, snide banter (Henri on wives: "The opinions you can ignore. Isn't that right Catherine?") Megan Follows deserves more praise for her performance here, she is far and away my favorite part of the show.

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More on the Valois family:

Since this film is based off of Dumas's book the Valois royal family comes across as very…despicable to say the least. But if you read more about these people, you'll find some pretty surprising facts I'm not sure everyone picks up on when watching the film:

Charles, Henri (Anjou), Margot, and Henri (Navarre) were all in their late teens and early 20's when this occurred.

If 20 year olds had been cast this would have been a very different film in my opinion because you would see these characters as being sort of powerless and more…naive (if this is the right word?) Margot and Navarre's "I don't ever want to sleep with you peasant" relationship early in the film might make more sense because of their age--teenage girls aren't exactly known for their depth (this isn't a dig at teenagers, I'm just pointing out my experiences), so Navarre would have looked like an unappealing, smelly, and a humiliating choice of husband to a 19 year old Margot.

Charles's anxiety attacks and his helpless demeanor would make more sense because you'd see that he's a young man who is used to having his mother rule for him, that he doesn't know how to make such a big decision when it comes to Coligny's assassination and the wrath of the Protestants--his age makes it more understandable that he would freak out and say what he says in the film.

I really wish someone would make a TV series just on this family, akin to "The Tudors" or "The Borgias".

[–] jaben12345 9 years ago

There is the rather disappointing French film Henri of Navarre ( well acted and decent battle scenes but let down by the script) and the rather awful show Reign about Mary Queen of Scots during her time at the French court which has Catherine as a major character.

[–] persistenceofvision 8 years ago

In Nostradamus, Catherine is unusually one of the good guys, and Henri II [evil adulterous husband] and Diane de Poitiers [woman he humiliates his wife with] are the bad guys. Catherine is played by Amanda Plummer who is possibly a bit leaner than the historical Catherine de Medici.

The courtship of Elizabeth I of England by Catherine's youngest son is shown in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth (1998); it's played for laughs, with the duc d'Alençon wearing a dress (they merge him and Henri III). It's also shown, more seriously, in episode 1 of Elizabeth I, the 2005 miniseries with Helen Mirren, which as I recall was very good.

[–] LeofricsBeloved 8 years ago

Margaretta Scott also played Catherine de Medici in Elizabeth R (1971, BBC). I liked her interpretation and in fact I liked every major character's interpretation by the actors. She was conniving but also ironic. Her performance was brief but memorable.

I thought Virna Lisi's portrayal was one of the greatest performances of all time. There was so much sorrow to her character, being unloved by her husband, some of her children, by the court, for being a foreigner from a nouveau riche family, etc. This sorrow and the desire to maintain the Valois Dynasty made her become convoluted and destructive.