QUEEN MARGOT (2014) 20th Anniversary Director's Cut 4K Restoration Edition
Channel: Cinema Art
Date: 2014-04-28

La reine Margot (1994)

Directed by Patrice Chéreau, based on the 1845 historical novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas. It stars Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Virna Lisi and Vincent Pérez. An abridged version of the film was released as Queen Margot in North America, and in the United Kingdom under its original French title.

The film was a box office success, grossing $2,017,346 in the United States when given limited theatrical release as well as in other countries such as Germany where it gained 260,000 admissions and Argentina where it received 530,800. The film also had a total of 2,002,915 admissions in France.

It won the Jury Prize and Best Actress Award at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, as well as five César Awards. It was later shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

The film was an international co-production made by several companies based in France, Germany, Italy, with the additional participation of StudioCanal and the American company Miramax, and the support of Eurimages. Among the locations were the Mafra Palace, in Portugal, the Basilica at Saint-Quentin, Aisne and the Château de Maulnes, Cruzy-le-Châtel in France.

The film's original running time was 161 minutes in its premiere at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and in its French theatrical release. However, its American distributor, Miramax, asked the director to re-edit the movie to 145 minutes, and this version was the version seen in cinemas outside France and later on video. The full-length version was available for a limited period in the United Kingdom on VHS in a collectors' edition box set in 1995, but all further releases, including the DVD, have used the 145 minute cut.

The re-edited version not only removed scenes, it also added a scene between Margot and La Môle, in which they stand outdoors wrapped in a red cloak. The director had cut this scene from the original 'full-length' version. The scene was re-inserted because Miramax insisted that the relationship between the two characters be more substantial, as the romance was to become the focal point for the American marketing campaign. The 'red cloak' scene appears on the US DVD cover. In contrast the Region 2 European DVD cover uses the original poster, showing a shocked Margot bespattered with blood.