Who enjoyed this film?

when the Princess was being prepared for her wedding night, there's a quick shot of frontal nudity and she has no pubic hair. That is soooo 21st Century

That would be my gut reaction as well, but it may not be as anachronistic as we think. Some medieval knights kept a token of their lady's pubic hair with them (no joke, I don't mean a lock of their head hair), some women definitely removed unwanted facial hair around this time, and paintings of naked women showed them both with and without pubic hair (depending on the aesthetic and religious sensibilities of the artist and the environment in which he worked.) None of this proves that any women were into pubic depilation back then, but those are the reasons I'd cite for assuming the scene might be less anachronistic than we suppose.

Anyway, thanks a lot for your comments!

Oneseat, I agree with you that the ending was a fitting one.

As to the original question from the original poster, I enjoyed the film very much, and so did my companion. We love period romance films with history (both of us have degrees in history), and this film was exactly what we look for when we want to see a movie.

All the actors were superb, but especially Lambert Wilson as the Comte de Chabannes. His character made the film for me....with his age and wisdom, he could see the future for Marie if she did not learn to check her emotions and impulses, her naivete, etc.

One poster was curious as to why the Comte de Chabannes would help Marie meet secretly with Henri. I think he knew that she would never care for him, an older man, and so, he tried to help her meet with the man she truly loved as a sign of his devotion to her, even though he knew the result could be disastrous for her.

I also think it didn't matter to him when her husband banished him from their castle. He couldn't have stayed around to watch her with the other men in her life; to do so would have been miserable for him since he was in love with her....but that's just my idea; perhaps someone else thinks differently.

I also loved this film and especially appreciate the insightful remarks in this thread.

This probably sounds crazy, but in some ways this film reminded me of Days of Heaven (1978.)
To me, every other scene was a breathtakingly gorgeous set-piece, with sadness tightly woven into the narrative.

The lead character annoyed me no end.

I totally agree with your comment. I saw it on TV yesterday so I thought maybe some scenes were edited out. Overall the movie had a great feel, interesting story and great acting by the "main" actors - some of the extras in the battle scenes were laughably awful, but most people might not have noticed that so It wasn't a big deal. The costumes were amazing and very time appropriate, the make-up was a little questionable on Marie - for being so pale it seems like she didn't use any pink blush and most French women that married into a good, rich family always made sure to wear very noticeable pink blush on their cheeks - maybe she was an exception? But that aside I was a little bothered by the lack of sex, kissing, and intimacy. This was supposed to be about love lost and the absurdity of falling in love for a woman, but it was all in a conversation, and I love conversations, but they should have shown more intimate interaction between each character. That's what makes period dramas so sexy and absorbing in my opinion.

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can't outrun your own shadow

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I enjoyed the film. I was sad with the ending, though. I felt the film was telling the story of Marie and Guise's youthful experience with love, and how it's complicated by her arranged marriage. And in the beginning, I saw Marie really tried hard not to succumb to an affair, but then she gave that up because she realized she still loved Guise very much. The only thing I hated, that, in the end, Guise did a total flip. He was all about love towards Marie, and was reckless in his choices all for her sake. He gave up on that marriage opportunity for her, but it did cost him his fortune. I suppose he regretted it because, finally, when Marie came to him at the end asking him to be with her and that she would forsake her marriage bond for him, he gave up on her.

In that moment, I saw that he possibly still loved her, but that now being rich and secure in his future was more important to him. And that's where I felt the worst for Marie. Because just as he tried everything in his power to be with her prior, and then she tried to do the same, he just rejected her. I honestly don't know what Guise was thinking in that final scene ... perhaps that he was choosing money over love, or that he saw his affection for Marie as a madness that made him do reckless and crazy things. I dunno.