French Film and TV Reviews: Versailles, the Hot TV Series

With his piercing eyes and stylish pencil ’tache, lead actor George Blagden lends such sexual allure to the role of Louis XIV in this fruity TV series about life in the royal palace that one wag dubbed him ‘Louis the Phwoarteenth’. We couldn’t possibly advocate such vulgar summation of this epically staged and magnificently photographed snapshot of the plotting and paranoia that surrounded the Bourbon’s eventful throne time.

If you think it’s weird that Louis is speaking English, it’s only because the French producers wanted to recoup some of the costs by selling rights to anglophone countries. Just go with it… Pssst. Season 2 is now out in France.

Versailles 

Creators: Simon Mirren, David Wolstencroft

Cert: 18

Running time: Ten episodes

Review from France Today magazine