French Royalty
Films and TV production about French kings and queens and the French royal courts.
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Kings and Queens and Royal Affairs British Royalty German and Austrian Royalty European Royalty Russian Tsars and the Romanov Family
Other Biographical Films
Related Lists:
Kings and Queens and Royal Affairs British Royalty German and Austrian Royalty European Royalty Russian Tsars and the Romanov Family
Other Biographical Films
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- DirectorThierry BinistiStarsVinciane MillereauStanley WeberFrançois BerlandHow Louis XV, a young king loved by his people, sensitive to the artistic and intellectual turmoil of his century (that of the Enlightenment), will end his reign in decay and hatred? Only fifteen years after his death, it's the Revolution.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsKirsten DunstJason SchwartzmanRip TornThe retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 14 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen, and ultimately the fall of Versailles.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeJulien DuvivierStarsNorma ShearerTyrone PowerJohn BarrymoreThe tragic life of Marie Antoinette, who became queen of France in her late teens.
- DirectorRandall WallaceStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJeremy IronsJohn MalkovichThe cruel King Louis XIV of France has a secret twin brother whom he keeps imprisoned. Can the twin be substituted for the real king?
- DirectorMike NewellStarsRichard ChamberlainPatrick McGoohanLouis JourdanD'Artagnan and his fellow Musketeers plot to replace the ineffectual Louis XIV of France with his secretly imprisoned twin brother Phillipe, who is the firstborn and rightful King.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsLouis HaywardJoan BennettWarren WilliamDespotic King Louis XIV discovers he has a twin brother who has grown up under the tutelage of his foster father, the patriotic musketeer D'Artagnan.
- DirectorThierry BinistiStarsVinciane MillereauSamuel TheisJérôme PoulyDocudrama about the life of Louis XIV nicknamed "the Sun King", the King of France who ran a glamorous court, expanded the borders of France, loved women and parties and built an incredible palace for himself - the Versailles.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsPhilippe NoiretJean RochefortJean-Pierre MarielleA look at 18th-century France, when the authorities depravity contributed to social oppression, and the uprisings flared up one after another.
- StarsStéphane BernAbout Eugénie de Montijo, wife of emperor Napoleon III, who was the last Empress consort of the French.
- StarsStéphane BernPierre BeharMichèle Bimbenet-PrivatAbout Diane De Poitiers who, in the 16th century, was a favorite courtesan of King Henri II of France.
- 2007–TV Episode
- 2007–TV EpisodeStarsStéphane BernPhilippe AlexandreHugues AufrayAbout Anne of Austria, the mysterious mother of the Sun King Louis XIV of France.
- StarsStéphane BernAbout the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, and his passions.
- 2007–TV EpisodeStarsStéphane BernAbout King Louis XV of France, and his wife, Marie Leczinska.
- 2007–TV EpisodeDirectorDavid JankowskiStarsStéphane BernSimone BertièreOlivier ChalineAbout Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, known for much of her life as Madame de Maintenon, the second wife of the Sun King, Louis XIV of France.
- DirectorDavid JankowskiVanessa PontetStarsStéphane BernJulia GratensAbout Anne of Brittany, the grand duchess and ruler of Brittany in the late 15th and early 16th century, who was instrumental in the unification of France and Brittany.
- DirectorGuillaume de LestrangeStarsStéphane BernRobert BadinterHélène BecquetAbout King Louis XVI of France.
- 2007–8.5 (7)TV EpisodeDirectorVanessa PontetStarsStéphane BernMartin AurellSteven BrindleAbout Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most powerful women in the middle ages, wife of King Louis VII of France, and later of King Henry II of England.
- DirectorGuillaume de LestrangeStarsStéphane BernVladimir PerrinDorothée LebardLouis XIV, the man and the king. About the Sun King, Louix XIV of France.
- DirectorAntoine De MeauxStarsStéphane BernOlivier ChalineJoël CornetteLouis XIV: the king is dead, long live the king. About the Sun King, Louis XIV of France.
- DirectorJacques MalaterreStarsArnaud BedouëtChiara De LucaMarc SaezA reenactment of the last day of king Henri IV of France before his murder by the fanatical catholic Ravaillac.
- DirectorChristian-JaqueStarsMartine CarolDaniel IvernelGianna Maria CanaleThe daughter of a seamstress, Jeanne Bécu could hardly imagine she would later become one of the most influential women of the Kingdom of France. Nor could she anticipate her quick fall and tragic death. The teenage girl was still a mere milliner's assistant when her beauty attracted the attention of Count Jean du Barry, a degenerate noble man who, after making her his mistress, undertook to make her Paris's most successful courtesan. Later, he realized that he could even help her to become one of aging King Louis XV's mistresses. But to qualify as a royal mistress, Jeanne had to be a married noble woman. No problem: Jean, who was already married, provided another husband, his brother Guillaume. This is how Jeanne, who had become Countess du Barry with sleight of hand, could enjoy triumph at Versailles. Unfortunately for her, her reign, which had excited the jealousy of the other courtesans, lasted only while the King was alive. Following his death, she was immediately exiled from Versailles and two decades later was executed on the guillotine.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsDolores Del RíoReginald OwenVictor JoryMadame DuBarry is a 1934 American historical film directed by William Dieterle and starring Dolores del Rio, Reginald Owen, Victor Jory and Osgood Perkins. The film portrays the life of Madame Du Barry, the last mistress of King Louis XV of France.[1] While this film does not serve accuracy to Madame Du Barry, it does feature antiques and jewelry that came from the actual days when Madame Du Barry lived. This film was released just as the Hays Code was taking full swing, and faced many problems with censors of the time. Scenes of this film had to be removed before its release or else it would have not been approved for release.
- DirectorPierre Granier-DeferreStarsUte LemperPatrick ChesnaisDaniel MesguichLast days of queen Marie Antoinette stunningly portrayed by a director who's clearly done a massive historical research. An accurate plot and a very moving rendering.
- DirectorRoger PlanchonStarsCarmen MauraMaxime MansionPaolo GraziosiThe title of this major French costume drama means "Louis, child-king", and indeed it's a fascinating fresco about the formative years of the young king Louis XIV, before he became the Sun-king at Versailles. It was a dark and violent period, when the Louvre (meaning 'wolves hunt castle', hunting was a major aristocratic pastime), then still the somewhat gloomy royal palace, was the battle field of palace intrigues while the regency was held by queen-mother Anne of Austria but the actual head of the royal government was the aging cardinal Giulio Mazirini ('Mazarin'), the less-known Italian successor of Richelieu, who also introduced to the court and the kingdom a host of his countrymen from whom Louis would learn the passion for Italian culture, especially music which would flourish under the direction of Lully (but that later story is another movie, "Le Roi danse"). The elaborate script sketches the story of French power politics, too complicate and devious to summarize in any detail, but mainly from the viewpoint of the immature king under maternal guardianship, who probably didn't comprehend half of the grave troubles focusing on the strife between the official Catholic church and those claiming freedom of religion, especially for the Huguenots, but in reality mainly driven by personal and family ambitions and the grip of nobles on the kingdom at the expense of the royal power, and climaxing in a full rebellion, known as the Fronde, which forces the royal family to flee for their lives, an experience that may have decided Louis to dedicate his reign to preventing a repeat by establishing absolutism as he did. Some narration is done by Louis's younger brother Philip, the duke of Anjou, who seems smarter but as the spare heir is condemned to life in a golden cage, overshadowed by Louis while any 'disrespect' for his crowned sibling is punishable on the spot by strap lashes administered on his bare behind by a servant.
- DirectorAlan RickmanStarsKate WinsletAlan RickmanStanley TucciTwo talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles.
- DirectorGérard CorbiauStarsBenoît MagimelBoris TerralTchéky KaryoCorbiau repeats the Farinelli formula, artistic rivalry and social private drama expressed in dazzling, sometimes excessively lavish baroque scenery, music and costume, but this time in its ultimate setting: Versailles. There are two protagonists - first the title character, Louis XIV, the French sun-king who has two passions, establishing absolute rule over the realm -after decades of religious/civil wars- by divine right and artistic brilliancy as a dancer (like Nero wrote and performed musical poetry), and starts asserting himself against the entourage of his Medici mother, the regent during his minority, by building his palace complex and launching a 'fitting' new, mainly musical display of baroque show. Secondly the musical genius Gianbattista Lulli ('Jean-Baptiste') Lully, a Florentine upstart of unbridled ambition, quickly gains the king's absolute trust, despite the nationalist and aristocratic opposition to a low-born Italian, and thus turns the normally socially humble post of court composer into a 'ministerial portfolio of culture' of Cabinet rank, complete with a monopoly which kills of his artistic rivals in operatic theater. The script also weaves a complex web of court scheming for individual power and social interests, and even a sadistic but accidental murder on a young valet, producing a sensuous and sumptuous drama too complex for this format, ending in a freakish but fatal accident. Louis XIV's mother was Ana de Austria (in French, Anne d' Autriche), the daughter of one of the Hapsburgh Kings of Spain. Maria di Medici (in French, Marie de Médicis) was his grandmother, his father's mother. She was dead before Louis XIV reached the throne. Please correct the reference to "his Medici mother"
- CreatorSimon MirrenDavid WolstencroftStarsGeorge BlagdenAlexander VlahosTygh RunyanIn 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world - Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.
- DirectorCarl FroelichStarsRenate MüllerEugen KlöpferMaria KrahnThe story of the German princess Liselotte and her arranged marriage to the French duke Philippe of Orleans.
- DirectorKurt HoffmannStarsHeidelinde WeisHarald LeipnitzKarin HübnerThe story of free-spirited German Princess Liselotte who, giving in to her father's wish, marries Philippe, the Duke of Orleans. Initially she is met with arrogance by her new husband and his court, and especially by his mistress Palatine, who flaunts her affair with Philippe in her face. Liselotte uses her charm and the weapons of womanhood and soon wins over the court and also the affections of her husband. But her enemies spin intrigues against her and skulduggery is afoot.
- StarsHélène de FougerollesVincent PerezRosemarie La VaulléeJeanne Poisson, the headstrong, ambitious, witty and erudite, catches the eye and heart of French King Louis XV at a costumed ball. She masters the art of seduction well enough to become accepted even by the Queen, corpulent mother of ten. As a sensibly chosen Royal 'favorite' mistress she is soon ennobled Marquise of Pompadour to facilitate her introduction at court. The immature dauphin (crown prince) proves a bitter and unrelenting enemy, joined by his imposed Saxon bride, and his sister at her deathbed. Although friends at court help Pompadour return, her health gives way.
- StarsDominique BlancDidier SandreValentine VarelaDrama centering around the life at the court of Louis XIV and the role of the Marquise de Maintenon.
- DirectorThierry BinistiStarsVinciane MillereauGabriel DufayRaphaëlle AgoguéThe dramatic events around the French king Louis XVI and the French crises in the late 1700's with no will to pay taxes, which led Louis XVI into an impossible situation as a king.
- DirectorCurtis BernhardtStarsStewart GrangerElizabeth TaylorPeter UstinovIn 1796, Captain George Bryan "Beau" Brummell of the 10th Royal Hussars Regiment offends the Prince of Wales with his straightforward outspokenness and gets fired from the Army but is chosen as the Prince's personal advisor.
- DirectorRosie SchellenbergStarsHelen CastorLucy WorsleyLucy Worsley untangles Louis XIV's complex world of court etiquette, fashion and feasting, while court politics expert Helen Castor delves into the archives and unpicks the Machiavellian world that Louis created.
- StarsArmand AssanteJacqueline BissetStephanie BeachamEpic story about the romance between the most powerful man in the world and the woman who conquered his heart.
- StarsIan HolmBillie WhitelawPeter BowlesA dramatized account of Napoleon's love life and his many women. From first love, marriage, and betrayal with Josephine, liaisons with actresses, his love for the beautiful patriotic Marie Walewska and his second marriage to Austrian Marie-Louise, all the time seeking an heir, and building an empire. There are nine fifty-minute episodes.
- DirectorRoberto RosselliniStarsJean-Marie PatteRaymond JourdanCésar SilvagniAfter the death of Cardinal Mazarin, young king Louis XIV decides to assert his power to control the aristocracy.
- StarsJeanne MoreauPhilippe TorretonClaude RichBased on the novel of the same name by Maurice Druon, Les Rois maudits (The Cursed Kings) is the second television adaptation of this seven-volume book which is widely agreed to be an accurate representation of actual events. It is the early 1300's and the treasury of France, under the rule of Philippe IV (Philippe le Bel or Philippe the Beautiful), is empty. The king decides the only solution is to raid the treasures of the Knights Templar (amongst others) and concocts various charges of treason, heresy and deviance against the Knights and their Grand Master Jacques de Molay. Having confessed under torture to the crimes of which he is accused, de Molay is condemned to be burned at the stake. With his dying breath he curses the king, the king's advisor (Guillaume de Nogaret), the pope (Pope Clement V) and the thirteen succeeding generations of their families. There follows one of the most dramatic periods in French history, half a century of political intrigue, murder, treason, war and famine, which ultimately culminates in the 100 Years War.
- StarsGilles BéhatHélène DucJean-Luc MoreauSet during the reigns of the last five kings of the Capetian dynasty and the first two kings of the House of Valois, the series begins as the French King Philip the Fair, already surrounded by scandal and intrigue, brings a curse upon his family when he persecutes the Knights Templar. The succession of monarchs that follows leads France and England to the Hundred Years' War.
- DirectorAndré HunebelleStarsJean MaraisRosanna SchiaffinoRoger HaninIn the 15th century France, only one honest knight stands up on protection of a young noblewoman when she finds herself trapped in enmity between a king and a treacherous nobility.
- DirectorDavid MillerStarsLana TurnerPedro ArmendárizRoger MooreIn the sixteenth century, a noblewoman has a love affair with the French King.
- DirectorPatrice ChéreauStarsIsabelle AdjaniDaniel AuteuilJean-Hugues AngladeYoung Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family.
- DirectorJo BaierStarsJulien BoisselierJoachim KrólAndreas SchmidtA wide-ranging, energetic period piece tracing the rise of the Protestant Henry of Navarre as he goes from battlefield warrior to France's beloved King Henri IV. Director Jo Baier's epic is a classically-entertaining adventure, albeit one with much bloodshed and frequent bawdy sexual interludes. In late-16th-century France, Catholics and Protestant Huguenots are at war. Seemingly seeking peace, French dowager Queen Catherine de Medici summons Henry to her court to marry him to her daughter, which would unite the two warring factions. However, the Catholics slaughter the Protestant wedding guests in what became known as the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and Henry--now married--must use all his guile to stay alive and maneuver for the throne.
- DirectorMarc RivièreStarsPhilippe TorretonAlessandra MartinesMarc CittiWith France's prime minister Cardinal Richelieu and King Louis XIII dead, the Italian-born Cardinal Mazarin and the Spanish-born Queen Anne struggle to establish a regency to rule France in the name of the five-year-old Louis XIV.
- DirectorSacha GuitryStarsMichel AuclairJean-Pierre AumontJean-Louis BarraultThe history of the palace of Versailles from its founding to the present.
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsGérard DepardieuUma ThurmanTim RothVatel is the cook of Prince Condé. When the prince invites Louis XIV to hunt, he has to give lavish banquets in order to fall in his favor. But when Vatel falls in love with the king's mistress, love and duty come into conflict.
- DirectorPatricia MazuyStarsIsabelle HuppertJean-Pierre KalfonSimon ReggianiMadame de Maintenon rises from humble beginnings to become a courtesan to the royal court and eventually marries King Louis XIV. With the king's indulgence, Maintenon opens a special school for girls.
- DirectorCharles ShyerStarsHilary SwankSimon BakerJonathan PryceIn pre-Revolutionary France, a young aristocratic woman left penniless by the political unrest in the country must avenge her family's fall from grace by scheming to steal a priceless necklace.
- DirectorRobert EnricoRichard T. HeffronStarsKlaus Maria BrandauerJane SeymourFrançois CluzetA chronicle of the French Revolution from the calling of the Etats General in 1789 until the end of the Jacobin Terror in 1794.
- DirectorDoug ShultzStarsEdward HerrmannGeorge IvascuRodica LazarDocumentary about the bloody beginning, bloodier middle and unceremonious end of the French Revolution, an event that ended in blood the reign of kings in France and laid the foundation for a new - republican - system of government.
- StarsDavid McCulloughDocumentary about the rise and fall of one of the greatest military geniuses of modern times from his Corsican childhood to final exile in St. Helena.
- StarsChristian ClavierIsabella RosselliniGérard DepardieuA masterful soldier, tactician, and statesmen, Napoleon Bonaparte, with courage and love for his country, rises from an unpaid general consumed with ambition to the most powerful man in Europe. But his life ends with a fall and exile.
- DirectorBenoît JacquotStarsLéa SeydouxDiane KrugerVirginie LedoyenA look at the platonic relationship between Marie Antoinette and one of her female readers during the first days of the French Revolution.
- DirectorAlbert SerraStarsJean-Pierre LéaudPatrick d'AssumçaoMarc SusiniUpon returning from a hunting expedition, King Louis XIV feels a sharp pain in his leg. He begins to die, surrounded by loyal followers in the royal chambers.
- DirectorAriel ZeitounStarsNora ArnezederGérard LanvinTomer SisleyIn France, prior to Louis XIV ascending the throne, a young baroness is forced to marry against her will and is caught up in a web of treachery and murder, threatening her and her husband, whom she has come to love deeply.
- DirectorBernard BorderieStarsMichèle MercierRobert HosseinJean RochefortIn the third of the Angélique series, the heroine is sent on a mission by King Louis XIV, and later finds herself the subject of rumors.
- DirectorMarc DugainStarsLambert WilsonAnamaria VartolomeiOlivier GourmetIn 1721, the Regent of France, wanting to seal the peace with Spain, offers to the Spanish King, a marriage between their respective heirs: Louis XV, age 11, and Maria Anna Victoria, the 4-year-old Spanish Infanta (princess). The Regent of France also offers to marry his daughter, Mademoiselle deè Montpensier, 12, to the Prince of Asturias, the 14-year-old heir apparent to the Spanish throne. Madrid responds enthusiastically to both proposals, and the ceremonies are promptly organized. The exchange of the princesses is to take place with great pomp on a small island, in the river bordering the two countries. Everything has been done to expect the best of the children, but nothing will proceed as planned.