Timothy Dalton gives an extremely strong performance of a king who is torn between his duty, his lust and his royal rights. This king is bored and frustrated by the servility and flattery of his court, but at the same time lives up to it and considers his "droit the seigneur" as something of a God-given right. When he is crossed in this expectancy by the strong will and pride of an attractive married lady at his court, his lust turns into obsession. The movie gives us beautiful photography of Italian (?) surroundings and sumptuous palaces, obviously shot in authentic places, and a fair share of appealing costumes.
There are unfortunately also many flaws in the movie. To begin with, the English dubbing of almost all of the (international) cast is very annoying, it seemed as if the English voices they used were often not suited at all to the persons they were supposed to be, and it sounded mostly like people reading lines in a radio-play. The main flaw however was the part of Jeanne by Valeria Golino, playing like a wooden doll, most of the time being angry and giving everyone (including the king) the evil eye and snubs and contempt. You never see her smile even once and although she's very attractive, this makes it very hard to understand the all-consuming obsession the king has with her.
This brings me to the script, I just couldn't believe the things happening! Jeanne hated her husband and took revenge on him. But why on earth did she suddenly ran back to her hated husband, and why did she run back to the king after he (the king) had killed her husband, and why did the king (are you still with me??) all of a sudden NOT want her back, notwithstanding the fact that she, being a widow now, was at last free?!? Also the historical background of the story is obscure and unfathomable, like where on earth is this little kingdom, and what were these wars that were going on?
The lasting feeling is two-fold: one of disappointment, since it could have been so much more and better, and one of praise for Timothy Dalton, who proves here what a great and impressive character-actor he is, in spite of the fact that he too must have felt that he was fighting a lost cause. He deserved better!!
There are unfortunately also many flaws in the movie. To begin with, the English dubbing of almost all of the (international) cast is very annoying, it seemed as if the English voices they used were often not suited at all to the persons they were supposed to be, and it sounded mostly like people reading lines in a radio-play. The main flaw however was the part of Jeanne by Valeria Golino, playing like a wooden doll, most of the time being angry and giving everyone (including the king) the evil eye and snubs and contempt. You never see her smile even once and although she's very attractive, this makes it very hard to understand the all-consuming obsession the king has with her.
This brings me to the script, I just couldn't believe the things happening! Jeanne hated her husband and took revenge on him. But why on earth did she suddenly ran back to her hated husband, and why did she run back to the king after he (the king) had killed her husband, and why did the king (are you still with me??) all of a sudden NOT want her back, notwithstanding the fact that she, being a widow now, was at last free?!? Also the historical background of the story is obscure and unfathomable, like where on earth is this little kingdom, and what were these wars that were going on?
The lasting feeling is two-fold: one of disappointment, since it could have been so much more and better, and one of praise for Timothy Dalton, who proves here what a great and impressive character-actor he is, in spite of the fact that he too must have felt that he was fighting a lost cause. He deserved better!!