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Vatel | Year: 2000 Classification: Drama Directed: - Roland Joffé Actors/Actresses: - Julian Sands - Tim Roth - Uma Thurman - Gérard Depardieu Watch it twice--once to be amazed, again to concentrate It seems that filmmaking is every bit as "give and take" as other aspects of modern life. VATEL is an absolute visual masterpiece--the costumes, scenery, special effects, and accute attention to detail left me breathless as I watched this film not once, not twice, but three times. This is a film about a master party planner, and it certainly delivers on that premise. VATEL, played by French actor Gerard Depardieu, is a fiercly loyal steward to his master--he rarely sleeps during the king's visit because he alone is responsible for the successful staging of the over-the-top festivities. I suspect the audience is supposed to get a good sense of his rags-to-riches story, admire him for his selfless service to his bosses, and root for him when he falls for the impossible Anne (Uma Thurman in an understated role) but the character of VATEL, as poignant as it is, is all but lost in the overwhelming eye candy of this film. Other subtle hints at the lavishly opulent lifestyle of royalty (nothing has changed, really) and distinct separation of the "servant" and "the served" are also fuzzed by the abounding superfluity. The lack of sufficient buildup to VATEL's final decision left me a little confused until I watched it again and was finally able to focus on the actual storyline. While watching this film for the first time, one will be too overwhelmed with the artistry of this picture--which explains why it was nominated for the art direction Academy Award--but the real "plot" is there and it's a good one. This film isn't all fluff. It's multi-layered and much more complex than many people realize. Simply Divine This film is such a visual masterpiece! It's absolutely stunning from beginning to end. The set design is by far the most accurate historically that I have ever seen (and believe me, I have seen just about every 17th century period piece there is). The actors performances are overall, perfection. Gerard Depardieu does a magnificent job as playing the title role Vatel, who is a party planner extrodinare! The pretense is an all important visit from Louis XIV (played beautifully by Julian Sands) to Vatel's master's estate. Everything must be perfect so that the Sun King may grant Vatel's master a commanding generals position in an impending war with the Dutch and thus, bestowing riches upon him. Intrigue, lust and pure love is what transpires over the three days that Louis spends at the estate. Uma Thurman gives a great performance as a courtesan who catches most everyone's eye, including that of Vatel however, the King catches her first which complicates matters. Tim Roth gives a fine dastardly performance as a Marquis. In my opinion, this film is a masterpiece of set and costume design, such is the case that the actor performances are secondary, which is fine by me. I cannot praise this film enough, it has knocked off my all-time favorite period piece "Restoration" off of the first place pedestal. It is a gourmet feast for the eyes! Not such a swell party The biggest French box-office disaster in recent memory (it lost more money than Heaven's Gate, wiped out the massive profits of Asterix et Obelix Contre Cesar and nearly took Gaumont with it), this pretty much completes Roland Joffe's unbroken post-The Mission run of box-office and artistic failure. While not as bad as The Scarlet Letter, it's also not as much fun. Unfortunately, this is the kind of film Martha Stewart or Delia Smith might appreciate, but few others will. It all starts off so well. So well that I was wondering why this has such a bad reputation, but it quickly becomes apparent that it really is just a film about a lavish three-day party seen from the point of view of the caterers. The fact that the party is thrown for the Sun King gives it plenty of visual opulence, but the lack of substance becomes more and more apparent as it drags on towards the third day - it's definitely one of those parties that goes on way too long and which you should have left much earlier while it was still in full swing. When one of the characters kills themselves because there aren't enough fish to go around and the script strains to turn it into an act of revolt against a world where nobility of the spirit counts less than accidents of birth, you know that someone's reading a little too much into it. Gerard Depardieu looks alarmingly unhealthy throughout, Tim Roth gives a very bored reprise of his Rob Roy party piece and the wooden Uma Thurman is borderline disastrous/vaguely competent (the scene where she stops the wind by force of will is one of the most laughable pieces of face pulling in recent years). The supporting cast fare better - mostly Brits like Julian Glover, Timothy Spall, Richard Griffiths and Julian Sands. Shot in English, it is very odd to note that Depardieu is dubbed for the odd few words (but rarely full sentences) by another, very British sounding actor. Maybe he was too ill to make the ADR sessions. It is lavish and you can see where the money was spent, you just can't see why. (A version of this review appeared in Movie Collector magazine) Buy Vatel at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  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