THE AFFAIR OF THE NECKLACE
4 out of 5 stars

marie antoinette: "if you weaken the monarchy, you undermind an entire nation."

jeanne: "you weakened yourselves long before a necklace became an issue."


i think i gave this movie an extra star based on the subject matter, but it really deserves of a 3 since they didn't really follow the TRUE story behind this scandal... :/ (which would have made it MORE interesting!)


it's hard to believe that a diamond necklace would be the pinnacle moment in french history to topple a long, long legacy of french royalty. well, that AND the rise of democracy! as we celebrate bastille week, we are reminded of 3 choice words: liberte, egalite, and fraternite! those words ring true in this movie about a scandal illicited by a woman stripped of her royal title: jeanne de la motte valois. she orchestrates a conspiracy with her lover and court gigolo retaux de la villette (a sexy simon baker), her husband the count nicholas de la motte (a hilarious adrien brody), and count castaligno. (christopher walken playing himself w/ an atrocious italian accent) basically, the plot was to get the cardinal rohan to pay for a diamond necklace, and then sell the diamonds off to brokers, thus PAY DAY for the conspirators... the queen marie antoinette comes into play because she and rohan have a bitter relationship, and jeanne utilizes their fractured relationship to her advantage and her desires... her ultimate desire: to reclaim land once owned by her family!

it's the ultimate con, and it happened in 18th century france. it's one of the moments in history where you're like "yeah, right! did the cardinal REALLY fall for something that fishy?" unfortunately, yes... human emotion is such a funny thing, and it's interesting to watch how the events unfold in this adaptation of l'affair du collier. :)