Tea at Trianon: Cinematic Royal

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Cinematic Royal

Jordi Molla as King Philip II. Share

6 comments:

tubbs said...: Hollywood has always towed the whig party line, ( Raymond Massey played Philip II back in the Thirties). Anyone who knows anything about Philip can only laugh at the inanity of the casting tradition of Philip as an Osama bin Ladin type. But they'll do it every time!

I guess the casting people don't see the teutonic, blond/blue eyed-little fire plug-wrestler's build type as sinister looking enough. (and this latter type is exactly how Philip was described by his contemporaries).

Thanks for posting this, EM; this subject has always amused yet annoyed me.

Yes, Folks, the "BLACK LEGEND" is still alive and well in the movie industry...and the PC police ignore it.

Oh, I forgot: SPAIN=CATHOLIC=EVIL...so the "Black Legend" is PC after all.; March 2, 2010 at 3:30:00 PM EST
Julygirl said...: Unfortunately, many of the great unread draw their knowledge of history from films. Taking pot-shots at the R.C. Church does not seem to incense modern Catholics as it should. Perhaps they are afraid of drawing some of the fire upon themselves.; March 2, 2010 at 5:20:00 PM EST
tubbs said...: Julygirl,

that's so true.; March 2, 2010 at 7:55:00 PM EST
MadMonarchist said...: True indeed and it is shown in this movie especially as the stand-in for King Philip's palace was Westminster Cathedral. I found it amazing that the English hierarchy would have any part in a film so blatantly anti-Catholic.; March 3, 2010 at 9:35:00 PM EST
Aron said...: I really don't know where to begin with my contempt for this movie: the historian in me bristling at the numerous inaccuracies, the Christian (Protestant) shaking his head at the unfair portrayal of Phillip, or the one dimensional one of Elizabeth...the typical guy in me rolling his eyes at the ridiculous "romantic" plot-part...It just defys words! The only good thing I can say about the movie has to do with the sets...
~Aron <><; March 5, 2010 at 12:39:00 AM EST
Gareth Russell said...: I think the blog made a very good point that it's unfortunate that a production which is pro-Elizabeth felt that to do so it had to be anti-Philip, in this way. In 1971, the BBC's series "Elizabeth R" was very much sympathetic to the great monarch, with an astonishing tour de force performance from Glenda Jackson, showed Philip II in Episodes 1 and 4 (Mary Tudor's reign and the Armada) in a generally positive delight. Incompetent in Episode 4, certainly, but I don't think even the most sympathetic of King Philip's partisans would say the Armada was organised with anything like effective pragmatism, which is what an invasion force needed. However, it by no means showed Philip and the Spaniards to be uncivilised, psychotic, sociopathic or amoral. They were shown as being just like the English, only with different objectives. I can't recommend the series highly enough for fans of accurate historical dramas.; March 12, 2010 at 11:30:00 AM EST