Film: Henry Of Navarre
Year of production: 2010
UK Release date: 4th July 2011
Distributor: Showbox
Certificate: 15
Running time: 148 mins
Director: Jo Baier
Starring: Julien Boisselier, Joachim Król, Roger Casamajor, Andreas Schmidt, Armelle Deutsch
Genre: Drama/History
Format: DVD
Country of Production: Germany/France/Czech Republic/Spain
Language: German/French/Italian/Latin
Review by: Mark Player
They say it is always better to tell the legend than the truth when cinema is concerned. However, when it comes to the biopic, a delicate balance of showing the facts accurately and showing said facts in such a way as to make them script friendly is difficult to master. Director Jo Baier's epic Henry Of Navarre, then, has the unenviable task of depicting the life of one of France's most popular rulers, Henry IV, in a way that is both accurate yet entertaining. Does he succeed?
Starting in the mid 16th century, at the height of the French War of Religions, a young prince Henry is bred for battle from an early age. His mother has high hopes for him, believing that he will lead the Protestant Huguenots to victory over the Catholics, and his bravery even impresses the ageing apothecary Nostradamus.
Henry (Julien Boisselier) grows into adulthood and has become a formidable warmonger. Shortly before the mysterious death of his mother, Henry is arranged to be married to the Queen consort Catherine de' Medici's daughter Marguerite de Valois (Armelle Deutsch), with the intention of uniting the two warring factions and ending the violent disputes between Catholics and Huguenots once and for all. However, a backlash ensues and the Catholics murder Henry's Protestant wedding guests, as well as other Huguenots across the land; a moment forever dubbed the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
Although Henry survives, his problems are only just beginning; having to escape his Catholic captors and stay alive long enough to ascend to the throne and end the bloodshed...
Unfortunately, whilst Henry Of Navarre has more than enough interesting historical material to play with, the results don't equal an interesting story. The script is particularly weak, not because of lack of material, but because it tries to include too much; aggravated further by some very brutal editing. Henry's transformation from boy to battle-hardened warrior occurs through a single, hurried montage of overlaid battle clips and the odd bit of dialogue. Key characters are introduced and subsequently killed off or ousted from the script in such a speedy and inconsequential manner that all empathy is lost. So many principle roles die suddenly off-camera, with Henry finding out in the next scene via a flippant interchange – i.e. “oh by the way, so-and-so died last night” - that it feels like a terribly executed running joke (or a potential drinking game). Henry's rise to the throne, then, is not as sweet as it could be, as his struggle to the top is based on his ability to not die between scenes.
There are other moments that feel oddly farcical. A scene where Henry gives the usual motivational pep talk to his army before the initial charge into battle is followed by a scene between the Commander of the opposing Catholic army and one of his officers: “Do you wish to rally the soldiers?” the officer asks. “Should I?” says the Commander. “It can't hurt,” replies the officer. The Commander takes a second to contemplate this before turning to address his men, as if the filmmakers are aware of their going through the motions.
The film's music also feels like it's jesting with the audience; with a cliché lute strumming its way into the mix as soon as Henry gazes upon the love of his life: a woman so randomly introduced into the film via descending some stairs that she may as well have been shoved into shot by a stage-hand. Other musical cues have the propulsion of a modern action movie, which for a film set in the 16th century is very distracting indeed.
Cinematography is solid, although it lacks variety. Interiors are lit with a heavenly hard light similar to Ridley Scott's Gladiator, whilst the film's battle scenes are characteristically and unimaginatively shaky. Some of the film's second unit photography stands out as being especially lazy: some badly framed, telephoto lensed shots of animals in the wild during the king's hunting excursion, for instance, are awkwardly spliced into more professional looking shots of the actors. It sounds like nitpicking, but these albeit minor blemishes soon add up and weigh down one's overall enjoyment.
The film is also let down by other technical failures. Originally shot by a multi-lingual (mostly German) cast and crew, dialogue was then re-recorded in French; a fact that is painfully apparent in certain shots that are infested with inadequately synched ADR, which, again, prevents a viewer from being fully sucked into the story.
Performances are decent enough but feel one-dimensional and lack pathos; partly due to the questionable dubbing and partly due to the film's overly brisk pacing. Boisselier makes for a competent lead who can handle both the reasonably violent battles and the occasional love scene, although this is love in the loosest sense of the concept. The sex is pretty rampant in some places, almost unnecessarily so. It's not overly explicit, but neither does it feel sensual, and you know that a film is in trouble when a steady showcase of breasts struggles to keep you interested.
Henry Of Navarre definitely feels like a missed opportunity. The film looks good but its mediocre script and uneven plotting hold it back. Its fast paced nature will prevent you from feeling completely bored but this slapdash hurriedness also means that you won't care. The results, while just about competent, are certainly not worth the investment.
No comments:
Post a Comment