Rose et noir (2009)
Directed by Gérard Jugnot

Film Review

After the near-disaster that was Boudu (2005) you'd be forgiven for thinking that Gérard Jugnot had hit rock bottom and could hardly come up with a less agreeable cinematic mishap.  With Rose et noir, Jugnot proves the contrary and plumbs the depths with even greater gusto, pretty well destroying his reputation as a film director with a barrage of ill-judged humour that has as much comedy mileage as a global outbreak of bubonic plague.  Given the huge resources which he had at his disposal, which manifest themselves in the film's lavish costumes and sets, it seems extraordinary, if not downright criminal, that Jugnot could only deliver an overblown and hideously self-indulgent misfire of this magnitude.  The actor-director may have started out with noble objections, to make a scathing commentary on the intolerance and petty prejudices that poison our present society, but he seems incapable of extricating himself from the mire of mediocrity into which he has fallen lately.  If the inane, toe-curling dialogue doesn't put you off, the frequent eruptions of tacky vulgarity certainly will.  Rose et noir is an abomination.  Whatever became of the Gérard Jugnot we used to know and love?

Film Synopsis

In 1577, Pic Saint Loup, once the greatest couturier in France, receives the commission of his career.  King Henry III engages him to create the most beautiful wedding dress for the marriage of one of his nephews to the daughter of a Spanish nobleman.  The problem is that Saint Loup must travel to Spain, a staunchly Catholic country that brutally oppresses free-thinkers, Jews, gays and non-Catholics - which is unfortunate because these are exactly the kind of people that make up the couturier's entourage.  Still, Saint Loup accepts the commission, not realising that his secretary is a closet Protestant who intends using the expedition to avenge the St Bartholomew Massacre...