High-toned costume drama, set in the viperish milieu of the pre-revolutionary Versailles court, where the emphasis is at least as much on verbal display as on sartorial. (The ingénue who disdains the life of the court, by contrast, demonstrates her open-heartedness through her décolletage.) The drama, though, is diminished by the moral simple-mindedness of loosing an altruistic do-gooder into this hissing snake pit. It is diminished all the way to pointlessness by the eventual outcome. With Charles Berling, Jean Rochefort, Fanny Ardant, and Judith Godreche; directed by Patrice Leconte. (1996) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.