Search - The Lady and the Duke on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG-13 Content Advisory: Violence Movie Release: 2001 DVD Release: 10/01/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 9 mins Studio: Columbia TriStar Members Wishing: 1 Genres: Drama, Romantic Drama, Period Film

Having finished his acclaimed cinematic quartet "Contes des quatre saisons," legendary filmmaker Eric Rohmer takes DV camera in hand to recreate this idiosyncratic period piece adapted from the Grace Elliot memoirs. Concerned with faithfully evoking 18th century France, Rohmer uses two strategies -- using only eyewitness accounts of the times and avoiding all external settings, arguing that Paris now is a completely different city than it was during revolutionary times. The story revolves around Grace Elliot (Lucy Russell), a Scottish aristocrat stranded in Paris during the French Revolution. She is once again thrown together with Philippe Egalite, the cousin to the king, the Duke of Orleans, and Grace's former lover. Their friendship remains complicated and uncertain, and is made all the more complex by the rush of events around them. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Lucy Russell - Grace Elliott
Jean-Claude Dreyfus - Philippe, Duke of Orleans
Francois Marthouret - Dumourier
Leonard Cobiant - Champcenetz
Caroline Morin - Nanon
Marie Rivière
Laurent Le Doyen

French director Eric Rohmer presents the period drama The Lady and the Duke. The film is presented in a very pleasing 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that sports sharp, detailed colors and solid black levels. Without the presence of grain, dirt of any other major imperfections marring the image, this transfer should please any fan of the film. The soundtrack is presented in a decent Dolby Digital 5.0 French Surround soundtrack with a fairly enveloping sound stage. While the directional effects and surround sounds are used in only a few key scenes, overall the mix is free and clear of any excessive hiss or distortion. Also included on this disc are English and Spanish subtitles. The extra features for The Lady and the Duke are floating at the bare minimum -- all that's been included on this disc is a theatrical trailer for the film, two bonus trailers for the films Happy Times and Sunshine State, and some cast and crew biographies. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide