Sunday 22nd March at 3.15pm & 6.45pm
La Tulipe noirE 1964 (U)
Englsih Title: The Black Tulip
Director: christian-jaques
Run Time 1h 55mins
A shining example of a lavish French historical drama with a great sense of fun, staring Alan Delon – twice! – in the perfect marriage of comedy and swash-buckling adventure
It is 1789 and the eve of the French Revolution. Aristocrat Guillame de Saint Preux lives a double life as the masked bandit “The Black Tulip”, played by Alan Delon, stealing from the rich to support the peasants. After being scarred in a fight he forces his idealistic twin brother, Julien, also played by Alan Delon, to impersonate him. Julien then falls in love with the spirited and talented Caro who is a cut above the average love interest in similar films.
She can fight, tame a horse and outsmart bad guys as well as any male hero. The relationship between Julien and Caro is well drawn, thoroughly charming and brings something special to the film. It is she who teaches the slightly fey and uncertain Julien to be a better swordsman. In the process they fall in love much to the initial displeasure of her revolutionary-minded father Pantin, played by Francis Blanche. Julien embraces the cause, but when he discovers that his brother Guillaume is motivated by greed rather than justice, sparks and swords fly.
La Tulipe Noir manages to straddle the notoriously difficult divide between serious drama and outright farce, with plenty of light comedic touches and deft character performances, to turn in a timeless classic. Taking its name, but not its story,from Alexandre Dumas’s novel the film nevertheless captures Dumas’s rollicking spirit and could easily have been the inspiration for Richard Lester’s The Three Musketeers as it has a similar cocky, not-quite spoofish approach to it’s material.
Excellently choreographed fight scenes and sumptuous cinematography combine with director Christian-Jaques’ perfectionism and unwillingness to compromise, which pushed Delon to his limits. He realises the different characters of the two brothers so well, one a tender flawed hero, the other a cynical anti-hero, and they are edited together on screen so expertly, reviewers at the time claimed it is hard to believe they are being played by the same iconic actor.
A more fulsome review can be found here
Trailer for La Tulipe Noir/The Black Tulip
book tickets for la tulipe noir
Tickets cost £6