Saturday, December 28, 2013

Henry of Navarre

In two installments over the past two nights I finally watched this fine film (fortunately available with English subtitles in its entirety on YouTube) I'd been wanting to see for awhile, about one of France's greatest kings, Henry of Navarre (2010). Towards the end the king's genial interactions with his loyal and grateful subjects--who do indeed have chickens in their pots--are deeply moving, especially if one knows what's coming next. Only complaint: Henri's brother-in-law Charles IX (1550-1574) only lived to be 23, so it was bizarre to cast as him an actor who was 51 in 2010. (Why do historical movies so often do things like that?) Nevertheless, highly recommended should you have two and half hours to spare.


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