The Princess of Montpensier
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
Screenplay by Jean Cosmos, Francois-Olivier Rousseau, Bertrand Tavernier
Starring Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gregorie Leprince-Ringuet, Gaspard Ulliel
***1/2

With its agreeable mixture of petty scheming, bedroom intrigue, and self-absorbed alpha males and the naive temptresses that love them, the French costume drama The Princess of Montpensier is perhaps best described as medieval pulp fiction.  Co-written and directed by veteran Gallic filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, the film is based on an almost 350-year-old story by Madame de la Fayette, the penname of a 17th century countess that published much of her work anonymously during her lifetime.

(more…)