L’Anglaise et le Duc

L’Anglaise et le Duc is based on the memoirs of Grace Elliott, an aristocratic British lady who – unlike so many others who could afford to – did not leave Paris during the French Revolution. Grace Elliott (beautifully played by Lucy Russell) describes how, because of her royalist heritage, she has difficulty blowing with the winds of the revolution. She is deeply shocked when her ex-lover Philippe, Count of Orléans, chooses to agree to the beheading of the king, his cousin, to save his own skin. She installs herself in her country house at Meudon (not far from Paris) with a maid servant and a telescope. When she is asked to smuggle a nobleman from the dangers of Paris, Grace does not hesitate. It turns out to be an old enemy of Philippe.

Following his cycle Contes des quatre saisons (1990-1998), Éric Rohmer evoked surprise with the subject of this radically different film. Alongside the beautiful language in which the dilemmas and mechanisms of revolution are exposed, the film also offers plenty to please the eyes. Rohmer filmed the outdoor scenes in a huge studio and put his actors in 37 digitised paintings by Jean Baptiste Marot, that bring to life the streets of Paris and environs in the style of contemporary prints.

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