Vatel (2000)

Vatel, perhaps a weak title to a spectacular film; it recreates the excesses of the French court in its pre-off-with-their-heads-phase. In order to escape bankruptcy, the gout afflicted Viscount must entertain the King so sumptuously and so entreatingly, that the King may commission a war with Holland, thereby paying the Viscount's debts. To keep the King and his courtiers entertained, it was no small thing, so the entire countryside is enlisted in the feasts and entertainment. None will be paid unless the banquets are a success. Louis' entourage of Queen, mistresses, and waggish cavaliers run riot through the festivities. The fete is essentially an Olympic opening parade that goes on for three days in dazzling costume orchestrated by one great artist, the Viscount's steward, Vatel.Vatel orchestrates the extravaganzas and falls for Uma Thurman, the King's new mistress. She is not yet the jaded courtesan and sees greatness in Vatel's can-do veneer. Indeed, Vatel is a man of integrity, denying the King's pedophile brother a young kitchen boy at the risk of his life. Vatel swats away meddling noblemen and women for the entire feast while making love to Thurman, star-crossed lovers though they are. Gerard Depardieu is brilliant even with his modest grasp of English.

This is a superb movie. Gerard portrays the character Vatel perfectly, the "party liaison", shall we say, who is trying to help Prince de Conde' regain the favor of the King, Louis XIV, to save his bankrupt province by putting together a massive weekend of splendor and banquets. Tim Roth plays a good supporting role, as the Marquis who is trying to bed Thurman. Also in the supporting cast is Timothy Spall. The movie is very colorful and wonderfully directed, and was nominated for best art direction. The director does well at portraying the time period, and keeps you captivated during every scene. Tim Roth could have had a better role, but that would probably be my only complaint about this movie. I'd give it a 9.5/10.

Spoilers herein.A terrific script, one which appears to be concerned with class imprisonment but is far more clever. The key notion here is self-reference.Vatel is a producer of lush entertainments, presented to us by -- a producer of lush entertainments. Though only the translation is by Stoppard, this is the most Stoppardian of notions: to amuse us with a story about people just as greedy as ourselves for luxurious entertainment -- and to please while condemning.The story goes farther into the truth: all entertainers are slaves, prostitutes. The game for an artist is one of drawing lines between that slavery and the noble joys of creation. Vatel does what he does because his obnoxious sponsors provide him the means to do what he desires. That's all, or not all because he needs the applause.Also in Stoppardian fashion, we have Roth (Guildenstern , Mitchel, Vincent) there to tell us the terrible truth about ourselves. The plot involves competing attentions to Uma's character -- essentially a sweet whore with canaries -- and Vatel, the grand coordinator of revels. He is pulled by the King and his present employer as well as sexually by the King's brother. He wins the admiration (and protection) of that brother in refusing his advances by noting their common perversion in the quest for perfection.How perfect for this film to be lacking the salt of engaging drama, that excuse we normally give for watching. How perfect that we collectively reject it because it is merely beautiful.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching

Contains Spoiler!!!! I thought this movie was great! I showed the theatricality and Royal Propaganda that went on in Early Modern France. Vatel was a complete victim with no option left for himself. He spends the whole film thinking that he is the master of his own destiny but when his master trades him like a horse in card game he realizes that he is not. He is really just a pawn like everyone else.I also love the use of mirrors in this film. Vatel objectifies the upper class by alway viewing them in mirrors. When Uma's character sleeps with the king she looks at herself in the mirror and sees herself as an object for the first time.I thought this film was all about the powerlessness people felt during this time. To people who didn't like the ending, it was based on a true story so he had to kill himself at the end.