The Lady and the Duke

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The Lady and the Duke

PG-13

Released May 10, 2002

2h 3m

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

72%

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71 Reviews

68%

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1,000+ Ratings

The tale of a beautiful, royalist English gentlewoman living perilously in France during the Revolution, and her sometimes affectionate, sometimes tempestuous relationship with Philippe, Duke of Orleans, a cousin of King Louis XVI but nonetheless a supporter of revolutionary ideas. The Lady manages to persuade the Duke to rescue an outlaw, but fails to keep him from voting for the King's execution.

Critics Consensus

Visually stunning, The Lady and the Duke uses current technology to elegantly bring the past to life.

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Empire Magazine

Rated: 4/5

Dec 30, 2006

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Susan Stark

Detroit News

Leave it to Rohmer, now 82, to find a way to bend current technique to the service of a vision of the past that is faithful to both architectural glories and commanding open spaces of the city as it was more than two centuries ago.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 27, 2002

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Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Nothing short of a technical marvel and a ravishing movie to look at.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 26, 2002

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Eve Tushnet

Patheos

What comes out in the storytelling is the way our actions emerge from a tangle of sympathies, personal loyalties or debts owed, preexisting relationships we take for granted, and professed ideologies.

Jul 31, 2023

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Mark Halverson

Sacramento News & Review

Rated: 3/5

Aug 7, 2008

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Though not one of Rohmer best films, it's worth seeing for the acting and the dialogue which magnify the glory of the French language. Amazingly, at 81, Rohmer continues to be productive; rejection of film by Cannes Festival stirred controversy in 2001

Rated: B-

Feb 14, 2007

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Audience Member

Eric Rohmer embraced the new technology to create an absorbing and astute costume drama film. Because of his innovative ideas regarding depth of field and production design, we can now enjoy exquisite masterworks as Hugo (Martin Scorsese) or The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

Period piece misses the mark. The film makers probably realized it was a disaster but knew someone would always be interested in period pieces..so they took their chances. Not worth the effort to find.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

Le moins qu'on puisse dire avec ce film, c'est que la Nouvelle Vague est tout a fait morte.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

One of the better period movies I have seen, particularly of those set around the time of the French Revolution. It is difficult to find a good word describing the brilliant acting here...though "delicate and understated" might just cut it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

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Audience Member

After having exclusively viewed contemporary cinema over the past 3 weeks and all the inherently "unsure" cinema that such an exercise involves, watching the total and complete confidence of old man Rohmer was like mana from heaven. Rohmer finally lends his conservatism to didactic political prominence with this vicious attack on the horrors of the French Revolution. It owes everything to Rossellini's historical films, and, sadly, Rohmer is probably the only director today still looking directly to Rossellini's historical films for inspiration.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

The episodic nature through the French Revolution period can be a bit of a distraction to the story of adversity of an Englishwoman in France, however the plot does make for an interesting costume drama.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Éric Rohmer

Director

Lucy Russell

Grace Elliott

Jean-Claude Dreyfus

Le duc d'Orléans

François Marthouret

Dumouriez

Leonard Cobiant

Champcenetz

Caroline Morin

Nanon

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Synopsis

The tale of a beautiful, royalist English gentlewoman living perilously in France during the Revolution, and her sometimes affectionate, sometimes tempestuous relationship with Philippe, Duke of Orleans, a cousin of King Louis XVI but nonetheless a supporter of revolutionary ideas. The Lady manages to persuade the Duke to rescue an outlaw, but fails to keep him from voting for the King's execution.

Director: Éric Rohmer
Producer: Françoise Etchegaray
Screenwriter: Éric Rohmer
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Rating: PG-13 (Some Violent Images)
Genre: History, Drama
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters): May 10, 2002, Wide
Release Date (DVD): May 13, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $329.8K
Runtime: 2h 3m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)