Vatel
Short description
In 1671, France is preparing for a possible war with Holland, and the Prince de Condé hopes to be given command of the army. To win back the king's favour, he invites Louis XIV and the entire court to his château at Chantilly for three days of lavish festivities. The prince is deeply in debt and cannot easily afford such a display, so he puts the whole undertaking in the hands of his steward, François Vatel, a man of talent and integrity but modest origins. Vatel must stage elaborate meals and entertainments while managing the competing ambitions and intrigues of the guests. Amid the court's political manoeuvring, he becomes drawn to Anne de Montausier, a noblewoman close to the king.
Roland Joffé directed the film, his sixth feature, following The Killing Fields, The Mission, Fat Man and Little Boy, The Scarlet Letter and Goodbye Lover. Jeanne Labrune wrote the screenplay, and the cast includes Gérard Depardieu as Vatel, Uma Thurman as Anne de Montausier, Tim Roth, Timothy Spall, Julian Glover and Julian Sands. The production was a Belgian, British and French co-production made for about 36 million US dollars, an unusually large sum for a period drama of this kind.
Audience response has been moderate. On IMDb, the film holds 6.6 out of 10 from roughly 8,600 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.1 out of 10 from 182 votes. A critics' rating of 5.6 out of 10 from 32 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores, suggesting a mixed professional reception rather than outright enthusiasm.
What's left behind the scenes
- The character played by Jérôme Pradon quotes Captain Ahab from Herman Melville's (1819-1891) novel 'Moby Dick' (1851), which had not yet been written.
- William III of Orange (1650-1702) is referred to as the 'King of Holland,' however, he was a ruler (stadtholder), but by no means a king.
- When it is discovered in the kitchen that the sour cream has gone bad, Vatel, played by Gérard Depardieu, whips it with sugar and orders it to be served as a 'new kind of whipped cream.' This is a reference to the real François Vatel, who is mistakenly credited as the inventor of whipped cream (also known as crème Chantilly). In reality, by the time shown in the film, vanilla-infused whipped cream with sugar had been known for about 100 years, and the first mention of crème Chantilly dates only to the mid-1700s—approximately a century after the events depicted in the movie.
- The Sun King, Louis XIV, tells the Prince of Condé (played by Julian Sands and Julian Glover, respectively) about a painting depicting a ship engulfed in flames. This refers to the loss of the ship of the line 'Soleil Royal' during the naval Battle of La Hogue in 1692. The loss of this vessel brought shame upon the entire French navy, and the monarch considered it a personal insult.
- Information about the festivities of that era has reached us through the letters of Madame de Sévigné (1626-1696), an aristocrat who was personally acquainted with Vatel. As she wrote, the fireworks cost 16,000 francs, and the festivities during which Vatel committed suicide cost a total of 50,000 francs.
- According to historical accounts, the cause of Vatel's death was a misunderstanding. He committed suicide fearing that fresh sea fish would not arrive in time for the meal, yet the fish arrived almost immediately after Vatel was gone.
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