The Lady and the Duke
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: May 10, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Rohmer's films are renowned for their beauty, so it's surprising that he made a picture using digital video rather than film. But this was the right choice. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineFrank Lovece
The effect is one of gorgeous puppets, a removed perspective that makes some of the most powerful political and social events in history seem like the sad, desperate flailing of monkeys. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Played by Lucy Russell with a defiant, unapologetic embrace of aristocratic privilege, Grace is a maddening yet fascinating character. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This is absorbing throughout--not just a history lesson but, as always with Rohmer, a story about individuals Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
If you can forget the world-historic significance of the mass revolution that overthrew Europe's oldest absolute monarchy -- or rather, subsume it in the mysteries of personality -- The Lady and the Duke is the stuff of human interest. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The director manages to evade both the stuffy antiquarianism and the pandering anachronism that subvert so many cinematic attempts at historical inquiry. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A vivifying film, though it's done in such a strange style that it takes a while to get used to it. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The technique is impressive. But it would count for little if the human story -- of a magnetic, resourceful, and, in the way of all Rohmer heroines, articulate woman who was mistress to the Duke of Orleans -- weren't engrossing on its own dramatic terms. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Just as interesting, if not more so, is how Rohmer integrates his very contemporary concerns into a period drama, how he creates characters who manage to be true to our times as well as their own. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Andy Klein
Surprisingly manages never to grow boring -- which proves that Rohmer still has a sense of his audience. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
In the lively exchanges between the titular duo and the technical innovation that links the past to the present, The Lady And The Duke brings the period to life with surprising immediacy. Read full review
80
Washington PostSarah Kaufman
Still, it is a decidedly fresh take. Rohmer has said he came upon a condensed version of Elliott's diary by chance, in a history magazine. His rendering of her story focuses not so much on the politics of the time -- though they are the basis of much of the dialogue -- but on the emotional thicket. Read full review
80
VarietyLisa Nesselson
History comes alive with verve and cold-sweat suspense in The Lady and the Duke. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
That Mr. Rohmer is an octogenarian just beginning to play with digital technology makes the venture even more intriguing.
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The result is a galvanizing mix of intellectual discourse and guillotined heads.
75
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
The Lady and the Duke is not about the revolution. It's an intimate story of a woman's perspective during a dramatic event in world history. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Rohmer pulls off a wonderful feat: celebrating the elegance, and artifice, of another era at the same time he brings this tale of social upheaval boldly into the present. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Rohmer doesn't attempt to create any skepticism about Grace's perspective on her experiences; we are shown them as she saw them, and seeing is the real pleasure of The Lady and the Duke. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
An elegant story about an elegant woman, told in an elegant visual style. It moves too slowly for those with impaired attention spans, but is fascinating in its style and mannerisms. Read full review
70
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Old master Eric Rohmer, 82, uses new tricks in the form of painted backdrops inserted digitally to create a virtual reality. Rohmer goes Lucas - who could have guessed? Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
As always, conversation is the constant threading together Rohmer's stately pace and episodic structure, the thing he uses to show us who his characters are and what their friendship entails. Read full review
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The effect, in this French period drama, is something like a moving pop-up book, in which characters seem to be two-dimensional cardboard cutouts come to life. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Rohmer's style saps the film of the drama that flows directly from the subject matter. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The line between the dispassionate and the dull can be ominously faint, and when Rohmer kicks off his film with ten or fifteen minutes of solid anecdotal chat, you fear for the stamina of the audience. [13 May 2002, p. 96]
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
The Lady and the Duke, which drags on for over two hours, is an experiment in shooting a period film on a shoestring that turns out to be more interesting than actually entertaining. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
It's a fascinating concept, gorgeously rendered. Seeing the paint actually dry, however, would probably be more fun than most of this overly expository film. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
It's dull in a very tasteful way, with none of the reverberating tenderness and sometimes surly vigor that characterize Rohmer's best work, things like "Summer" and "The Aviator's Wife." Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A bold (and lovely) experiment that will almost certainly bore most audiences into their own brightly colored dreams. Read full review
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