Article first published as VERSAILLES Review on Seat42F.
VERSAILLES is a British-Franco-Canadian
production that started airing overseas nearly a year ago, and comes to
Ovation in the United States on October 1st. Taking place
during the construction of the titular setting, it focuses on King Louis
XIV, his struggles, his sexual dalliances, and his accomplishments, not
necessarily in that order.
Louis XIV (George Blagden, Vikings) is
an interesting figure. Paranoid, but not unnecessarily so, as there
really are people out to get him. Self-doubting, but not hampered too
much by it, at least in action if not in thought, as evidenced by his
grand plans for Versailles.
Promiscuous, very much so, sleeping with many women, including, but not
limited to, his wife, Marie Therese (Elisa Lasowski, Eastern Promises),
his sister-in-law, Henrietta (Noemie Schmidt, The Student and Mister
Henri), and Francoise-Athenais (Anna Brewster, Star Wars: The Force
Awakens).
The necessity of all of the women is, of
course, to produce an heir, but does Louis XIV need to be with quite so
many women to do so? Certainly his wife is not quick to bear him a son,
and theirs is an arranged marriage in order tie France to Spain, her
homeland. And sure, in this era, monarchs do sleep with multiple women,
and are not wholly expected to be faithful to their spouses. But, at
least to me, it seems like Louis XIV gets around more than most (with
some notable exceptions).
I mentioned that one of Louis’s lovers
is his sister-in-law, and that plays into the very interesting
relationship that Louis XIV has with his brother, Philippe I, Duke of
Orleans (Alexander Vlahos, Merlin). The two don’t seem overly
competitive in the show, with Philippe knowing his place, and not
seeming overly interested when the possibility of becoming king is
floated by him (though he isn’t uninterested, either). But Philippe does
get frustrated when Louis doesn’t allow him to fulfill his potential.
One wonders if he knows that his brother and wife are hooking up, though
given Philippe’s leanings, I’m not sure he’d care even if he did know.
No, Philippe does not seem to be who
Louis should be concerned about, at least not right away, but there is
plenty of palace intrigue occurring. Some of it comes from noble
families with bruised egos, and some of it comes from those who wish to
save France from being bankrupted by Louis’ wars and construction
projects. But Louis has his share of allies, too, so there will be
plenty of battles, both overt and subtle, to fight over the course of
the series, which has already filmed a second season and been renewed
for a third.
My favorite things about VERSAILLES are
in the visuals. It looks pretty stunning, both the costumes and the
sets, which include exteriors. The Palace of Versailles
is quite well known, and seeing its erection, even in small part, is
pretty cool. The acting is also pretty solid throughout, too.
Where the show fails for me is in
pacing. It is excruciatingly slow, and I find myself frequently becoming
bored. Slow is not always a bad thing when you’re drawn in by the
intensity of the performances, but that isn’t the case here, with the
story lacking any urgency or super high stakes (since we know Louis
isn’t really about to be assassinated or overthrown or anything). With
an historical drama, this is always a challenge, and for me, VERSAILLES
doesn’t manage to overcome it well enough. Also, some of the characters
look a little too similar, making it hard to distinguish between them at
times.
Overall, I thought VERSAILLES does some
cool things, but it probably isn’t for me. If you like historical
pieces, though, check it out, as you may disagree. VERSAILLES airs
October 1st at 10/9c on Ovation.
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