The Affair of the Necklace
| The Affair of the Necklace | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Charles Shyer |
| Produced by | Charles Shyer Andrew Kosove Broderick Johnson Redmond Morris |
| Written by | John Sweet |
| Starring |
Hilary Swank Jonathan Pryce Simon Baker Adrien Brody Joely Richardson Christopher Walken |
| Narrated by | Brian Cox |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | Ashley Rowe |
| Edited by | David Moritz |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $471,210 |
The Affair of the Necklace is a 2001 American historical drama film directed by Charles Shyer. The screenplay by John Sweet is based on what became known as the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an incident that helped fuel the French populace's disillusionment with the monarchy and, among other causes, eventually led to the French Revolution. The film received negative reviews from critics, but the sets, music and costume design were widely praised.
Jeanne de Saint-Rémy de Valois, orphaned at an early age, is determined to reclaim her royal title and the home taken from her family when she was a child. When she is rebuffed by Marie Antoinette and fails to achieve her goal through legal channels, she joins forces with the arrogant, well-connected gigolo Rétaux de Villette and her own wayward, womanizing husband Nicholas. They concoct a plan to earn her enough money to purchase the property.
King Louis XV had commissioned Parisian jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge to create an opulent 2,800-carat (560 g), 647-diamond necklace to present to his mistress Madame du Barry, but the king died before it was completed. Hoping to recover the high cost of the necklace, its creators try to persuade Marie Antoinette to purchase it. Knowing its history, she declines.
Jeanne approaches debauched libertine Cardinal Louis de Rohan and introduces herself as a confidante of the Queen. For years the Cardinal has yearned to regain the Queen's favor and acquire the position of Prime Minister of France, and when he is reassured by occultist Count Cagliostro that Jeanne is legitimate, he allows himself to be seduced by her promise to intervene on his behalf. He begins to correspond with the Queen and is unaware that his letters to her are intercepted and the Queen's responses are forgeries intended to manipulate him. The tone of the letters become very intimate. The cardinal becomes more and more convinced that Marie Antoinette is in love with him, and he becomes ardently enamored of her.
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