" through a spyglass , i could see everything . " king louis xvi was beheaded on january 21 , 1793 , but instead of visualizing this act of regicide , legendary auteur eric rohmer's the lady and the duke observes from afar . consider it a view to a kill made abstract . a proper british ( yes , british ) gentlewoman , grace elliott ( lucy russell ) , and her loyal maidservant gaze from a lofty terrace in meudon at the glistening city of paris , where raucous crowds seem tinier than ants . the maid narrates what little she sees of the execution through her telescope ( often muttering , " i don't know , " ) as the sound of cheering patriots and revolutionaries echoes through the air . what we don't see might not be able to hurt us . just close your eyes and think of england . during times of revolution , the aristocracy may feel a false sense of calm in their parlor halls , discussing tumultuous events over glasses of sherry until the walls cave in on them . adapted from elliott's memoirs , journal of my life during the french revolution , rohmer's latest artistic tour-de-force may seem far removed from his domestic comedies ( tales of the four seasons , etc . ) , a period film set during the most violent changes in french history . resisting the temptation for grand-scale theatrics , much of the lady and the duke is about quiet , decisive moments between members of the cultural elite as they determine how to proceed as the world implodes . grace elliott makes for an unlikely protagonist : a headstrong , snobbish blueblood , one unprepared for the machinations of history that sweep her along . a foreigner who accepts the french king as her own , grace's life seems defined by fancy attire and lively political debate with her former lover , the king's hot-blooded cousin , prince philipe , duke of orleans ( jean-claude dreyfus ) . the times are changing , though , and the gears inch ever closer toward violence . during the september massacres of 1792 , she is encountered by a procession of rioters brandishing the head of the duke's sister-in-law on a stake . rohmer makes a harsh transition from tranquil , old fashioned , almost stagy parlor scenes to the swell of an angry mob . in doing so , he achieves what braveheart and the patriot could not : the face of death . when grace sees her friend's disembodied head on a pole , rohmer's attention drifts from the societal change to one woman's reaction shot , laden with hot tears . grace finds herself taking in a fugitive from justice , sheltering him from the mob . through her relationship with the duke , she seeks a passport for this one activist's escape . grace doesn't even understand her own actions ( and the duke reacts in stunned disbelief at how she places herself in such danger ) . she endures persecution from robespierre and his gang of thuggish equalizers , ceaseless police monitoring , house searches , even a brief imprisonment for harmless international correspondence . maintaining her stiff upper lip and pampered life ( her imperious attitude to the servants never changes ) , she becomes a heroine through circumstance . the events themselves are intrusions upon her person , her home , and therefore her values . aristocracy proves a glass house , one that can barely withstand the upheaval of stones . the duke is called to vote on the king's punishment , and despite his hours of deliberation with friends and advisors , talk means nothing in the face of bloody action ( or futile inaction ) . the episodic structure creates a wobbly , jarring detachment from the events of the french revolution , which serves as metaphor but also disconnects potential audience identification . lazy viewers ( and critics ) may also complain that knowledge of french history is required for enjoyment of the lady and the duke . that's foolery , but brings up the valid criticism that rohmer's characters occasionally become didactic . rohmer's imperfect but <POS> assured </POS> push toward the future remains staunch and notable for casting a cautious eye upon the past while <POS> taking bold steps </POS> forward into an uncertain future . what may arouse interest in the lady and the duke outside of foreign film enthusiasts with literary and historical passions is rohmer's use of <POS> cutting edge digital technology </POS> as a means of exploring the theme of artifice as safety net or coping mechanism . the actors were filmed against a bluescreen , then placed against painted backdrops recreating the vastness of 18th century paris . this recreation calls attention to itself in every shot , a technicolor dream of fanciful buildings and wide-open streets . it looks as phony as titanic , but unlike james cameron's debacle , the lady and the duke plays with the notion of false security in those walls of stone . why ? they aren't real . the very foundation rohmer's characters stand upon is false , and in their groundlessness they must discover themselves , in all their insubstantial glory . screened at the 2001 new york film festival ( feature coming soon ) .
