The Lady and the Duke (2002)

Light, rational talkfests may be his métier, but master filmmaker Eric Rohmer has occasionally stretched his legs to make more atypical productions: namely, period pieces like the location-shot The Marquise of O and the studio-bound Perceval le Gallois. The Lady and the Duke, Rohmer's rapturously received 2001 feature, follows in their footsteps. An engrossing historical yarn and an outright visual marvel, The Lady and the Duke was inspired by the memoirs of Grace Elliott, a Scottish aristocrat living in Paris during the French Revolution. Rohmer has acknowledged that the movie was an attempt at depicting historical Paris in a way that had never been done before. To accomplish the task, Rohmer used digital technology to insert his characters in painted scenic backdrops that were based on pictures and engravings from the period. The result is a wondrous optical illusion: the spectral exteriors seem like paintings come to life. The effect gives The Lady and the Duke an added subtext of testimony, as if history were being written before our eyes. Uncharacteristically suspenseful for a Rohmer work, the movie nonetheless has its hefty share of tête-à-têtes, mostly between the royalist Grace and the revolutionary Duke of Orleans. While their impassioned dialogues give the upheavals context, those without a working knowledge of the French Revolution might have trouble keeping up with its twists. No matter; Rohmer's mastery for conversation notwithstanding, it's the pictures, not the words, that elevate this film to near-greatness. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide