On Feb. 18, NC State University Libraries and the Office of Global Engagement screened this month’s installment of the Global Film Series, a French film called “L’échange Des Princesses” (The Royal Exchange), in Witherspoon Cinema.
The film was introduced by Keith Luria, a professor in the department of history with a doctorate of history, who hoped the audience would take away “a greater sense of the history of the period” from the film.
Luria introduced the movie by giving the audience a background of the people involved in the film, including Philippe ď Orléans, Philippe V, Louis XV, Anna Maria Victoria, Mlle de Montpensier, and Prince des Asturies.
The film is based on a true story that took place in 1722. It is about the arranged marriages between Louis XV of France and Anna Maria Victoria of Spain, and between Mlle de Montpensier of France and Prince des Asturies of Spain. The marriage was to ensure peace between Spain and France after a 13-year war. Despite the seemingly simple plan, things didn’t go as expected. At the time of the marriage, Louis XV was 11 years old and Anna Maria Victoria was four. This led to problems as the throne of France needed an heir, but Anna Maria Victoria was still too young. The marriage of Prince des Asturies and Mlle de Montpensier had its own set of problems as Mlle de Montpensier was very headstrong and did not like being forced to marry. The film follows the story of these two couples as they try to make things work for the sake of their countries.
The cinematography of the film was incredible and many shots felt as though they were taken right out of a painting, making it very easy to get lost in the colors and beauty of the scenery.
The film has a very eventful plot despite the lack of action and constantly kept the audience guessing, unsure of where things would go next. The film was also not without humor as the characters made many sarcastic and witty remarks towards each other.
After the conclusion of the film, Luria answered questions from the audience including questions about the time period and the accuracy of the movie.
About the historical accuracy of the film Luria said, “Within the confines of a movie, I think they show the life of a court pretty well.”
Prompted by a question from the audience, Luria addressed the unusually mature way the children acted in the film.
“One thing you have to keep in mind is that children of the royal and aristocratic families were raised just exactly for [marriage] reasons, especially the women,” Luria said.
Marian Fragola, director of program planning and outreach for the libraries also commented on the children in the movie, saying there were certain parts that truly help the audience realize how young these children are.
After the audience questions, Fragola addressed why this particular film had been chosen for the Global Film Series.
“A lot of them said they wanted to see historical dramas, and so this was a great way to sort of show a very interesting and unusual and probably very well-known period in history,” Fragola said.
The Global Film Series has more films showing this semester. The next film is Shoplifters, on March 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Witherspoon Cinema. For information on the movie and the complete list of the rest of the series this semester can be found at global.ncsu.edu/film/.
