MovieChat Forums > L'allée du roi (1996) Discussion > Too sympathetic

Too sympathetic

posted 14 years ago by Pipeman_Toronto
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I loved the production values and performances in this. However it is too flattering a depiction of Madame de Maintenon. She was well known in her time as a domineering and opinionated woman who made the most of the opportunities that came her way.

The sympathetic script coupled with Dominique Blanc's endearing performance makes de Maintenon a little too lovable.

Didier Sandre, on the other hand gives us the best interpretation of Louis XIV we have had on film so far. We get to see all sides of the Sun King in his performance: Majestic, imbued with "gloire", commanding, loving and down to earth in private, erratic and cruel at times.

[–] crsh1976 13 years ago

The series is an adaptation of the book by Françoise Chandernagor published in 1981; the book is a pseudo-autobiography as if written by Mme de Maintenon herself.

Just like it happens in any adaptations, large chunks of the book didn't make it in the script; in the book, the narrator (Mme de Maintenon) goes to great lengths to explain that she tells her own story as she remembers it and specifically points out that she cannot possibly be impartial in any way because it's a one-sided story.

She certainly had her detractors, but it's not supposed to be their side of the story.. I appreciated the fact that you're encouraged to form your own opinion of her throughout the story because it is in fact so biased.