"Les rois maudits" (2005) TV mini-series

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Josée Dayan

Writers:

Maurice Druon (novel) and
Anne-Marie Catois (writer)

Release Date:

28 September 2005 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

Based on the novel of the same name by Maurice Druon, Les Rois maudits (The Cursed Kings) is the second...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Knight Templar | France | Burned At The Stake | French

Cast

Jeanne Moreau	...	Mahaut d'Artois
Philippe Torreton	...	Robert d'Artois
Tchéky Karyo	...	Philippe le Bel (as Tcheky Karyo)
Gérard Depardieu	...	Jacques de Molay
Jérôme Anger	...	Guillaume de Nogaret
Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Hugues de Bouville
Jean-Claude Drouot	...	Enguerrand de Marigny
Jacques Spiesser	...	Charles de Valois
Guillaume Depardieu	...	Louis X le Hutin
Julie Gayet	...	Isabelle de France, reine d'Angleterre
Julie Depardieu	...	Jeanne de Poitiers
Jeanne Balibar	...	Béatrice d'Hirson
Hélène Fillières	...	Marguerite de Bourgogne
Eric Ruf	...	Philippe de Poitiers
Anne Malraux	...	Blanche de Bourgogne

Also Known As:

"A Cursed Monarchy" (International: English title)
"La maledizione dei templari" (Italy)

Runtime:

500 min (5 parts)

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | Italian

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Castel Film Romania

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Les rois maudits" (1972)

Great text, lousy directing

Doing a remake of Les Rois Maudits is a little like doing a remake of Citizen Kane. You've got an awful lot of pressure! The text is powerful but most of the actors can't get a hold of it. Mind you, the producers have mostly hired good actors, but in many instances (Philippe Torreton for example), they can't get inside their characters, because it's not in their range. Others, like Julie Depardieu or Jeanne Moreau in some instances, are just pathetic!

Josée Dayan, the director, has a reputation for not taking many shots, so that the actors play on their "first energy". The result is interesting in some scenes, but you often get the feeling that there isn't any actor direction at all, which is very dangerous with this text, which requires some kind of classical training for the actors (No wonder the best actor was Eric Ruf, of La Comédie Française).

No wonder why in most stores in Paris you see more space for the 1972 version than for this year's!