Line #54 Film/LaReineMargot


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LaReineMargot_6052.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:It was the king's favorite dress.]]
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4	''La Reine Margot'' is a [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] of [[Literature/LaReineMargot the novel of the same name]] by Creator/AlexandreDumas, père. Released in 1994, the film stars Isabelle Adjani as Margot, Creator/VincentPerez as her lover La Môle, and Creator/DanielAuteuil as Henri de Bourbon, the king of Navarre. Originally clocking in at roughly 160 minutes, the film was cut by twenty or so minutes [[ImportationExpansion for its international release]] because of disappointing performance at the box-office in France and criticism that the film was too violent and incoherent. In addition to cuts, changes included a scene of Margot and La Môle wrapped in a red cloth for the American release.
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6	France, 1572. [[UsefulNotes/FrenchWarsOfReligion Unrest between Catholics and Protestants]] is coming to a head. In an effort to restore some semblance of peace, the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen dowager queen Catherine]], the real power behind King Charles IX, [[ArrangedMarriage arranges a marriage]] between her daughter, Marguerite de Valois, and the Protestant Henri de Bourbon, King of Navarre. People gather from all over the country to attend the wedding, including several thousand Protestants. One of them being a young man by the name of La Môle who has business with Admiral de Coligny, [[ParentalSubstitute the king's current favorite]].
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8	Naturally, no mere marriage can solve the larger political problems in France, from [[ChristianityIsCatholic religious disagreements]] to a potential [[WarIsHell war with Spain]] that Coligny is pushing for, and what's more, Catherine knows that her days in power might be over. The only way to resolve all these issues, so she believes, is to start picking off Protestant leaders.
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10	Until the king says to kill them all.
11	----
12	!!''La Reine Margot'' (1994) includes examples of:
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14	%%* AdaptationDistillation
15	* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: Margot pets her brothers' hair when they are upset about her wedding night.
16	* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Alençon, who is referred to as "le petit" (translated as "the kid" in the American release) by his older brother Charles.
17	* AnywhereButTheirLips: Margot refuses to let La Môle kiss her on the mouth their first time together.
18	* ArrangedMarriage: Margot and Henri de Bourbon.
19	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: King Charles and duc d'Anjou welcoming Henri de Navarre into the family and Margot is meeting prince Conde for the first time at her wedding - in reality, all Valois, Bourbon, de Guise and Conde are closest cousins and knew each other since childhood. They played and travelled together, boys got their education together too.
20	* ArtisticLicensePharmacology: Poisons that cause lots of bleeding are usually anticoagulants and arsenic is not one of them.
21	* AttemptedRape: Margot's brothers all gang up on her at a public gathering and pull up her dress. Very likely if Charles didn't start having a seizure they would have raped her. [[spoiler:In the extended version of the film they do rape her and also give her ATasteOfTheLash and Charles starts convulsing later.]]
22	* BetaCouple: Henriette de Nevers and Coconnas.
23	* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Valois family, including their Bourbon and Guise cousins and other families they've married into.
24	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Margot escapes her family to the safety of Navarre, but her lover is dead.]]
25	* BloodIsTheNewBlack: The Bartholomew's Night leaves almost everyone completely covered in blood, which adds a certain chic to their already rich and opulent clothing.
26	* BloodSplatteredInnocents:
27	** Right in the poster. Visually invokes BloodSplatteredWeddingDress, but the gown in question isn't Margot's wedding dress.
28	** Earlier in the movie there is Margot soaked in La Môle's blood when he stumbles into her chamber during the massacre.
29	* BrotherSisterIncest: Marguerite and her brothers.
30	* ChekhovsGun: A certain treatise on hunting.
31	* ConvertingForLove: Averted. It's more "converting so my wife's family won't kill me."
32	* CountryMouse: Henri in the Valois court, not least for being a Protestant among Catholics.
33	* CradleOfLoneliness: [[spoiler:The movie ends with Margot in her carriage cradling the embalmed head of Môle, executed by decapitation.]]
34	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Sweating all your blood out must be an excruciating way to die.
35	* CuteAndPsycho: Henriette de Nevers shows signs of it when she flirts with Coconnas during the massacre.
36	* DecadentCourt: Seems like everyone at french court is a depraved libertine.
37	* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:The real Charlotte de Sauve lived to be 66.]]
38	* DefeatMeansFriendship: Coconnas and La Môle need to fight twice before they achieve friendship
39	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: [[spoiler:De Nançay tries to stop Henri d'Anjou from raping Margot either out of jealousy or out of concern for Anjou's own reputation (ambassadors aren't familiar with their new king's manners yet). He couldn't care less what others do with Margot.]]
40	* DepravedBisexual: Henri d'Anjou
41	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Charlotte]] in Henri's and [[spoiler:Charles]] in Margot's
42	* DisappearedDad: Margot and her brothers'.
43	* DoesntLikeGuns: While boar hunting, Charles refuses to use a pistol because it's not as fun as stabbing it with a stake.
44	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Anjou is the most immoral of all Catherine's children, but he is her favorite. And he loves her more than any of the others can claim to.
45	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Anjou and Alençon are only referred to by their titles. [[note]]In real life, their names were Alexandre Édouard (later Henri III) and Hercule François.[[/note]]
46	* EvilMatriarch: Catherine has more than a little of this to her. Certainly Charles wouldn't be surprised if she tried to kill him so Anjou could rule, but she denies it vehemently.
47	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: When Alençon sets a trap for Henri [[spoiler: the poisoned book is picked up by Charles instead. Alençon has two choices. He can save his brother and both doom himself (because Henri is Charles' current favorite) and implicate his mother, or he can let Charles keep reading and die from it while saving his own neck.]]
48	* FairyTaleWeddingDress: Especially next to her husband's austere black, Margot's wedding dress is very elaborate and extravagant.
49	* FanDisservice: The blood-soaked naked corpses of massacred Huguenots.
50	* FemmeFatale: Margot herself as well as Charlotte de Sauve
51	* FieryRedhead: Henriette de Nevers.
52	* FingerLickingPoison: A poisoned book is used in attempt on Henri de Navarre's life, but the plan backfires with disastrous results.
53	* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler:Charles will die. Then Anjou becomes king. Then Alençon dies. [[CycleOfRevenge Then Anjou has Guise assassinated. Then Guise's sister encourages Anjou's assassination. Then Henri becomes king and rules for 21 years before being assassinated himself. Meanwhile Margot will be passed like a hot potato between three Henris - Anjou, Navarre and de Guise, each working against the other two and each demanding her complete loyalty; getting cheated on, imprisoned, implicated in treason and doing a fair share of cheating, betraying everyone for Alençon multiple times and rebelling herself]]. ]]
54	* GildedCage: Henri and Margot are put under house arrest in the Louvre after Margot's public outburst following Henri's conversion to Catholicism.
55	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Queen Catherine.
56	* GorgeousPeriodDress: The dresses are almost CostumePorn.
57	* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Asia Argento is a ''lot'' more attractive than Charlotte de Sauvre was. To a lesser degree, Marguerite. She was still a beautiful woman, but not as striking as Isabelle Adjani. Most of the men are a reasonably fair fit, however.
58	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Pretty much everyone.
59	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: To Catherine de' Medici, and ''how''.
60	** Far better candidates for the attempted assassination of Coligny are the Duc de Guise and the Spanish governor of the Netherlands.
61	** In the film Marguerite has a passionate love-hate relationship with her brothers, but actually she had a rather good relationship with Charles and Alençon, without emotional rollercoasters, and wrote fondly of them in her memoirs, while with Anjou things were more complicated - they used to be very close but then became distant and distrustful of each other. Marguerite attributes it to the influence of one of his favorites, but most likely it has more to do with her betrayal in favor of Alençon and continous plotting with him behind Anjou's back. Catherine really idolized Henri d'Anjou and seemed to love him most out of her children, if not only him at all. Judging by Marguerite's letters she once thought she would be executed on their orders.
62	** Catherine was seen as far too tolerant of Protestants by the Pope, the Guise faction, and the king of Spain.
63	** Charles II actually died of tuberculosis, which isn't surprising because he'd always been sickly.
64	* HitMeDammit: Coconnas to La Môle.
65	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Catherine arranges to have Henri poisoned so he will no longer threaten Charles. Charles ends up getting poisoned instead.]]
66	* HonorBeforeReason: Margot talks Henri out of this in order to save him from her family.
67	* HotterAndSexier: Partly to be expected simply because the novel was written in 1845, but the movie is much more overtly sexual than the novel.
68	* HuntingAccident: Charles IX would have died in such an accident, if it wasn't for [[spoiler:Henri de Navarre]].
69	* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Charles is Type B.
70	* IOweYouMyLife: Many:
71	** Margot saves Henri and La Môle during the the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre
72	** [[spoiler:Henri saves Charles]] from being gored to death by a boar.
73	* ImportationExpansion: That shot of Margot and La Môle on the American DVD? That whole scene was made up for the American release to strengthen the love story.
74	* KarmaHoudini: Guise and Anjou in the context of the film.
75	* KingBobTheNth: King Charles IX. [[spoiler: King Henri III.]]
76	* KingOnHisDeathbed: [[spoiler: Charles spends the last twenty or so minutes of the movie sweating blood as a result of arsenic poisoning. He does make it back to his bed for one last private conversation with his sister.]]
77	* KissOfDeath: The even more devious plan to poison [[spoiler:Henri de Bourbon]] via his paramour's lipstick is employed but thwarted by Margot appearing and saving him at the last minute.
78	* LovePotion: Charlotte de Sauvre receives rouge that contains a powerful aphrodisiac. [[spoiler: It's actually poison meant for Henri, but it only kills her.]]
79	* MasterPoisoner: Réné the Florentine is rumored to be this as well as Catherine's perfumer. [[spoiler: Turns out, it's true.]]
80	* TheMistress: Charlotte de Sauvre to Henri and Marie Touchet to Charles. Gender flipped with Gaspard de Nançay, Henri d'Anjou's official favourite.
81	* MoralityPet: Margot believes herself to be this to her brothers, but as Henri warns her this proves to be untrue.
82	* MortalWoundReveal: [[spoiler: Charles just looks kind of weak and sick... and then he starts sweating blood. From everywhere.]]
83	* MurderByMistake: Henri was supposed to die. [[spoiler: Charles died instead.]]
84	* NavelDeepNeckline: After her wedding, Margot wears a blue gown that laces in the front. Or at least, it's supposed to lace in the front.
85	* OffingTheOffspring: Accidental. [[spoiler: Charles is poisoned by a trap intended for Henri.]]
86	* OneSteveLimit: Probably why Anjou, duc de Guise and prince Conde are referred to by their titles. (All three were named Henri).
87	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Margot is only ever called Marguerite during her wedding ceremony. In real life it's reversed - only Charles called her by that diminitive.
88	* OpenSecret: Quite a few, not all of them about relationships.
89	** Valois' siblings foursome.
90	** Margot's relationship with the Duc de Guise.
91	** Henri's relationship with the Baroness Charlotte de Sauve.
92	** Queen Catherine had Henri's mother poisoned.
93	* ParentalIncest: Catherine and Henri d'Anjou make an eerily harmonious and devoted couple.
94	* ParentalSubstitute: Charles claims Coligny is like a father to him.
95	* PlatonicLifePartners: Margot and Henri's marriage.
96	* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: Margot begs Charles for La Môle's life. [[spoiler: It goes badly.]]
97	* PowderKegCrowd: After Coligny's assassination gets botched.
98	* PromotionToParent: A very twisted version. Margot is the only girl in the family and Catherine is distant towards her children. So Margot often behaves motherly towards all her brothers, especially Charles, holding and gently coaxing him when he's tormented by something.
99	* PuppetKing: Charles was this until recently, while his mother wielded the true power in France. He credits Coligny with freeing him from Catherine's control, though of course Coligny is just using him, too.
100	* QueenIncognito: Margot puts on a DominoMask and goes out into TheCityNarrows looking for a man to have sex with. She chooses La Môle.
101	* RavenHairIvorySkin: Margot, as played by Isabelle Adjani. Paler than anyone else in the film with very dark hair, Margot is widely considered a beautiful but poisonous woman, enchanting men with her looks even when they know better than to get involved.
102	* ReallyGetsAround: Margot is implied to be this. As are her brothers.
103	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Margot delivers one to her family after the massacre, telling them that they're all damned and they've damned her as well by using her wedding as Protestant bait.
104	* RoyalBlood: Why Henri de Bourbon, and de Guise house are so dangerous to Queen Catherine.
105	* RoyalBrat: King Charles IX, who is ''extremely'' fickle on top of being childish, a crybaby, and generally insufferable.
106	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Catherine actually works hard to run France. [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen How well she does is debatable.]]
107	* TheScapegoat: [[spoiler:Coconnas and La Môle]] took the fall for [[spoiler:Queen Catherine]].
108	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Henri de Navarre blends into background and exits the scene when his brothers-in-law start assaulting Margot.
109	* ScyllaAndCharybdis: Henri must convert or be killed. Either way, he's going to disappoint his followers, but, as Margot points out, at least if he converts, he'll be alive.
110	* SecretRelationship:
111	** Margot's romance with La Môle. At first.
112	** [[spoiler: Charles' relationship with Marie takes the cake as he actually does keep it from everyone, and has for at least a year judging from the age of their child.]]
113	* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Charles and Anjou, as illustrated by the one sobbing and the other coldly planning before the massacre.
114	* SexlessMarriage: Margot flat-out tells Henri not to come to her bed after their wedding because she refuses to sleep with him. [[spoiler: Subverted later when she gives him PitySex.]]
115	* SiblingsInCrime: Sons of Valois house not always get along but murder and opportunity to "discipline" Margot always brings them together as a team.
116	* SiblingRivalry: Between Charles, Anjou, and Alençon - for the throne and for Margot's favors (even tho Charles has rather "been there done that" attitude towards the latter).
117	* SkipToTheEnd: When Margot refuses to say "I do," King Charles gets up and pushes her over so her bowed form can be taken as a sign of agreement.
118	* SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: On the gritty side of the scale.
119	* SpareToTheThrone: Anjou and Alençon.
120	* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Orthon]] In the book he is killed by [[spoiler: Catherine]].
121	* StarCrossedLovers: Margot and La Môle
122	* SuccessionCrisis: What drives a lot of Catherine's actions. Because were something to happen to her sons, they have no children to ensure Henri de Bourbon doesn't get the crown of France.
123	* TakeThatKiss: Henri de Navarre gives one to Henri de Guise during their fight.
124	* TangledFamilyTree: Oh God is it ever:
125	** The Valois siblings and Henri are second cousins. [[note]]Their paternal grandfather (François I de France) and Henri's maternal grandmother (Marguerite de Angoulême) were brother and sister.[[/note]]
126	** The Valois siblings and Guise are second cousins as well. [[note]]Their paternal grandmother (Claude de France) and Guise's maternal grandmother (Renee de France) were sisters.[[/note]]
127	** Henri and Guise are first cousins once removed. [[note]]Henri's paternal great-grandfather (François de Bourbon) and Guise's paternal grandmother (Antoinette de Bourbon) were brother and sister. [[/note]]
128	** The Valois siblings' paternal grandparents (the aforementioned François I and Claude) were ''also'' second cousins.
129	** Henriette de Nevers is first cousin of both Conde and Navarre, her sister (who's Anjou's mistress) is married to Conde, and her other sister is married to Guise. And Henriette used to be Navarre's father Antoine de Bourbon (her uncle)'s mistress.
130	* UglyGuyHotWife: Henri and Margot
131	* TheUnfavorite: Margot, as emphasized by Catherine saying she loves all three of her children, and then correcting herself to say she has four.
132	* VillainousIncest: The titular Marguerite de Valois having sex with her brothers and their brother Anjou being in love with their mother, Catherine de' Medici. The whole incestuous lot is pretty villainous with atrocities, backstabbing, and poisonings under their belt, though a couple of them are more ambiguous including Margot herself.
133	* WellDoneSonGuy: Gender flipped with the parent as Charles is looking for his mother's approval and feels he is constantly denied it.
134	* WhiteShirtOfDeath: In the last scenes of the movie, Margot appears in a pure white gown, which is stained with gore as the last horrors unfold.
135	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Charles IX is the one. His life is miserable however he has to be one of the organizers of a large-scale massacre.
136	* YouKilledMyFather: Henri thinks that Catherine killed his mother, Jeanne d'Albret and (though it's not mentioned) the real Duc de Guise believed that Coligny killed his father, François de Lorraine.
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Context Film / LaReineMargot