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Lady and the Duke, The
Sony Pictures Classics


8.0

based on 28 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 4 votes
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Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Jean-Claude Dreyfus, Lucy Russell, Alain Libolt, Charlotte Véry, Rosette, Léonard Cobiant, François Marthouret, and Caroline Morin

The true story of an aristocratic young Scottish woman, Mrs. Grace Elliot (Russell), trapped in Paris during the French Revolution.

GENRE(S):	Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Eric Rohmer Grace Elliott (memoir Journal of My Life During the French Revolution)
DIRECTED BY:	Eric Rohmer
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: October 1, 2002 Video: October 1, 2002 Theatrical: May 10, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	98 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France
LANGUAGE(S):	French (with English subtitles)

Original Frech title "L'Anglaise et le Duc"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Rohmer's films are renowned for their beauty, so it's surprising that he made a picture using digital video rather than film. But this was the right choice.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Played by Lucy Russell with a defiant, unapologetic embrace of aristocratic privilege, Grace is a maddening yet fascinating character.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

If you can forget the world-historic significance of the mass revolution that overthrew Europe's oldest absolute monarchy -- or rather, subsume it in the mysteries of personality -- The Lady and the Duke is the stuff of human interest.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is absorbing throughout--not just a history lesson but, as always with Rohmer, a story about individuals

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The director manages to evade both the stuffy antiquarianism and the pandering anachronism that subvert so many cinematic attempts at historical inquiry.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A vivifying film, though it's done in such a strange style that it takes a while to get used to it.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The technique is impressive. But it would count for little if the human story -- of a magnetic, resourceful, and, in the way of all Rohmer heroines, articulate woman who was mistress to the Duke of Orleans -- weren't engrossing on its own dramatic terms.

Washington Post Sarah Kaufman

Still, it is a decidedly fresh take. Rohmer has said he came upon a condensed version of Elliott's diary by chance, in a history magazine. His rendering of her story focuses not so much on the politics of the time -- though they are the basis of much of the dialogue -- but on the emotional thicket.

Variety Lisa Nesselson

History comes alive with verve and cold-sweat suspense in The Lady and the Duke.

TV Guide Frank Lovece

The effect is one of gorgeous puppets, a removed perspective that makes some of the most powerful political and social events in history seem like the sad, desperate flailing of monkeys.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

In the lively exchanges between the titular duo and the technical innovation that links the past to the present, The Lady And The Duke brings the period to life with surprising immediacy.

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

Surprisingly manages never to grow boring -- which proves that Rohmer still has a sense of his audience.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Just as interesting, if not more so, is how Rohmer integrates his very contemporary concerns into a period drama, how he creates characters who manage to be true to our times as well as their own.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

That Mr. Rohmer is an octogenarian just beginning to play with digital technology makes the venture even more intriguing.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Rohmer pulls off a wonderful feat: celebrating the elegance, and artifice, of another era at the same time he brings this tale of social upheaval boldly into the present.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Rohmer doesn't attempt to create any skepticism about Grace's perspective on her experiences; we are shown them as she saw them, and seeing is the real pleasure of The Lady and the Duke.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

An elegant story about an elegant woman, told in an elegant visual style. It moves too slowly for those with impaired attention spans, but is fascinating in its style and mannerisms.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The result is a galvanizing mix of intellectual discourse and guillotined heads.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

The Lady and the Duke is not about the revolution. It's an intimate story of a woman's perspective during a dramatic event in world history.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Old master Eric Rohmer, 82, uses new tricks in the form of painted backdrops inserted digitally to create a virtual reality. Rohmer goes Lucas - who could have guessed?

LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert

As always, conversation is the constant threading together Rohmer's stately pace and episodic structure, the thing he uses to show us who his characters are and what their friendship entails.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The effect, in this French period drama, is something like a moving pop-up book, in which characters seem to be two-dimensional cardboard cutouts come to life.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Rohmer's style saps the film of the drama that flows directly from the subject matter.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

The Lady and the Duke, which drags on for over two hours, is an experiment in shooting a period film on a shoestring that turns out to be more interesting than actually entertaining.

The New Yorker Anthony Lane

The line between the dispassionate and the dull can be ominously faint, and when Rohmer kicks off his film with ten or fifteen minutes of solid anecdotal chat, you fear for the stamina of the audience. [13 May 2002, p. 96]

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

It's a fascinating concept, gorgeously rendered. Seeing the paint actually dry, however, would probably be more fun than most of this overly expository film.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's dull in a very tasteful way, with none of the reverberating tenderness and sometimes surly vigor that characterize Rohmer's best work, things like "Summer" and "The Aviator's Wife."

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A bold (and lovely) experiment that will almost certainly bore most audiences into their own brightly colored dreams.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Yoon Min C. gave it an 8:
Using computer graphics Rohmer gives us pictures instead of effects, a world of people instead of world of fantasy. It's in many respects a filmed play where the script and performances are of paramount importance with the setting serving merely as backdrop. Yet, how amazingly Rohmer has balanced aritifciality of the stage with the vividness of the filmic image. The images have been expertly crafted and deftly executed, making the viewer feel he's both watching actual and revisionist history, both people and actors; the great thing is one can take it either way or both. Rohmer's argument is similar to Wajda's in Danton; revolution betrays itself when it forgets its humane impulses, when it becomes all ideas and a game of power. The performances are all fine but the leading actress is absolutely exquisite in portraying her character's impassioned devotion to the idea of refined civility amidst a culture that is becoming dominated by ruthless politicos and vengeful masses. When we think of France today, we admire its dedication to liberty, equality, and fraternity; but no less its refined and regal tradition that has thankfully survived the revolution. No less revelant in the 20th and 21th century that has seen the rise and fall of radical movements with totalitarian agendas.

Robert H. gave it a 10:
Superb rendering of the French Revolution from the perspective of an uncompromising monarchist. The visual texture is rich, innovative and unforgetable. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.

Chad S. gave it a 6:
Unlike Eric Rohmer's last effort ("Autumn's Tale"), "The Lady and the Duke" is decidedly not for a general audience. The opening scene is a real endurance test. It reminded me of "Beloved". To begin any movie with a long conversation is problematic. We've just met this lady and this duke. The painterly exteriors are almost enough to temper the off-putting opening scene and the prevailing ones which do grow more and more engaging as we awaken from our nap. But you will wish the "lady" would get out of the house more often.

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Lady and the Duke, The Sony Pictures Classics

Lady and the Duke, The
Sony Pictures Classics