Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is a nice historic costume drama, it is well set, directed excellently and acted with love to details. Still this movie is a total waste of time, as the story line is not satisfying. The basic story goes like this: an aristocratic girl is promised as usual in these times to ensure stability of alliances of her family. She is married to a nice good-looking aristocratic young man, who starts to love her and who is committed and monogamous towards his new wife. As she is beautiful and attractive, every other aristocrat around her desires to have sexual relations with her. She is not a flaky dull-minded blond who does not know what consequences follow actions, but does it nonetheless. She dishonors her husband, her family, her husbands family and basically everyone else and is extremely badly skilled at covering up her smiles and blushing, when other aristocrats glance at her with sexual desire. She leaves her husband at the end only to discover that she received not more than a hot flirt in exchange for the destruction of her own future, her husbands future and everyone else in her life.Now, can anyone please tell me why this story should be worth watching it? Well, I believe it is not even though it is a solidly made movie with solid actors.Be warned...it's your time.

La princesse de Montpensier – The Princess of Montpensier – CATCH IT (B-) La princesse de Montpensier is the most talked about movie of Cannas 2010. There is no doubt there is some high profile stars and director attached to the project which leads to lots of expectations. La princesse de Montpensier is a passionate story about a beautiful woman Marie de Mezières torn between her husband Prince de Montpensier and lover Henri de Guise. Her beauty and innocence also catches attention of Duc d'Anjou and Comte de Chabannes. Now she must decide whether she wants to live with her husband or passionate lover whom she cannot forget. The story and premises is really fascinating based in 16th century, France. The emotional aspects of the movie are nicely presented but the action sequences in the movie are terribly rehearsed. This is the biggest mistake of the movie that time to time it shows fight or war scenes but they are so unnatural and unreal that it makes the movie very average and close to mediocre. Mélanie Thierry is stunning and her performance as Princess of Montpensier is worth praising. Gaspard Ulliel as passionate stubborn lover is really impressive. Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet is master in playing naïve. This is his third French movie I watched and I cannot stop myself from comparing him to his previous work which is almost the same playing the role of naive boy. Raphaël Personnaz is great, his dialogues and the way he carries himself as duke is simply amazing. Lambert Wilson did a decent job though I found his scenes very boring. Overall, La princesse de Montpensier is a decent attempt in capturing the essence of love but there are many things in the movie which could have been easily improved.

Basing a long film on a short story is usually a risk; the story often runs thin before the long film is complete. This is most assuredly NOT the case in Bertrand Tavernier's decision to adapt (with François-Olivier Rousseau) the short story 'La Princesse de Montpensier' written by Marie de LaFayette (1634 - 1693) and published anonymously in 1662. Of note, La Fayette's most famous novel was 'La Princesse de Clèves' (1678), first published anonymously in March 1678. An immense success, the work is often taken to be the first true French novel and a prototype of the early psychological novel. This film is one that both entertains in the manner of the great epics of the screen, but also teaches us about the religious differences between the Catholic and the Huguenots (Prostestants) during the 16th century while at the same time addressing from a near feminist point of view the manners of courtly versus passionate love in that fascinating period.Very briefly, Princesse Marie de Montpensier (Mélanie Thierry) is married to Prince Philippe de Montpensier (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet) in a marriage of convenience arranged by Marie's father: the rare beauty of Marie attracts the attention of all men, a fact that drives Philippe to rages of unfounded jealousy. France is in the midst of religious war and Philippe is off at war with his tutor Comte de Chabannes (Lambert Wilson): after a particularly grueling battle in which Comte de Chabannes kills a pregnant woman and a child he informs Philippe that he can no longer stomach war and asks to return to the palace where he will continue being the tutor of Marie in Philippe's absence. Marie and Chabannes become close as he teaches her to read and write - during which time Chabannes secretly falls in love with Marie. But there are other men who would woo her: Duc d'Anjou (Raphaël Personnaz)- the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici (Christine Brücher), the man history books have described as gay and who courted England's Elizabeth I unsuccessfully, and Marie's childhood friend, the handsome but battle-scarred Henri de Guise (Gaspard Ulliel). The story successfully eaves the course of the war between the religious factions and the drives and promises and desires of the four men to win the affection of Marie. Court intrigues, duels, secret meetings and the power of nobility push the story to a surprising but well designed end; passion of the heart can be destructive.Mélanie Thierry is brilliant as Princess Marie de Montpensier and is supported by equally fine performances by Wilson, Ulliel, Personnaz, Leprince-Ringuetand a very strong supporting cast. The period costumes and customs are perfectly realized, the cinematography by Bruno deKeyser and the musical score by Philippe Sarde enhance the rich tapestry of this Tavernier masterpiece. In French with English subtitles. Grady Harp

There is so much that is good about French cinema, but if you are about to see this movie, you have just wasted eighteen to thirty dollars, presuming you are either being dragged to or are dragging some sort of romantically-inclined partner, consort or comfort worker to this sorry eruption of art-house dross from the bowels of the French export industry. Like a vast wheel of mass-produced industrial brie, this inferior national product is ensconced in flag-waving packaging surrounding its bland core. "Hello, I am a French period drama," it screams, beating you with a vast stick of bread, then gets on with the pressing business of documenting the unremarkable life of some wilful yet vacuous aristocratic twit who for some reason warrants two hours of our undivided attention.For audience members with the good fortune to have escaped internment for crimes against humanity, I must question your enduring decision to watch this movie. It is a travesty of filmmaking, a cynical act of reflux by an industry that recognises anything in a period costume set in the French countryside anytime over the last millennium will attract the vapid attention of culture drones who delight in hollow, costumed eye-candy so much they need to be forcibly restrained less they mount the stage to perform lewd acts against the screen. In fact, it would be a sensible exercise in self-preservation to simply sit silently in a dark cupboard for two hours imagining this very scenario unfolding instead of watching "The Princess of Montpensier." I would caution that these are two hours you will never get back, however the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder the movie will precipitate will involve audience members reliving this experience again and again through a series of distressing flashbacks. This is not just two hours. It is a life sentence.