Farewell, My Queen (Les Adieux à la Reine)

July 1789. At the dawn of the French Revolution, as turmoil brews in Paris, Versailles carries on, careless and unworried, as if isolated from the rest of the world. Sidonie Laborde, the Queen’s young reader, carefree and entirely devoted, takes full advantage of the intimate moments which tie her to Marie Antoinette, whom she admires so much. Sidonie is unaware that she is about to live out the last three days she’ll ever have at her mistress’ side, in the Versailles of pomp, extravagance, games of leisure and luxury. Spending her days in salons, private apartments and the Petit Trianon, where she caters to her mistress’s every whim, the young reader also gets to know the other side of Versailles. The gilt façade falls away to reveal an unwholesome and dangerous place. The endless, labyrinth-like hallways spawn rumors about the Queen’s voracious passion for the Duchess Gabrielle de Polignac. And the walls begin to echo with the outcry of a hungry people… The guileless Sidonie doesn’t dare believe the murmurs and whispers. Nothing can happen to them at Versailles. And yet, the news arrives the morning of July 15th. Rioters have taken the Bastille by storm. The people have taken up arms. Mutinies are springing up throughout the kingdom. The Revolution is underway and the courtiers are worried. What will become of them?

Versailles lives out its final hours. The nobles scramble in the face of destiny, the courtiers move out by the light of the moon. The Revolution is inescapable. The Court is dying.

Genre: Drama/History
R/T: 100 minutes
Rating: N/A
Director: Benoît Jacquot
Starring: Diane Kruger, Léa Seydoux and Virginie Ledoyen
Rights: Worldwide
Original Language: French with English subtitles