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The Affair of the Necklace movie storyline. Paris, 1786: a woman in court. The Crown murdered her father for his views about the poor, now Jeanne wants her home and good name back. She believes all can be set right if she can talk to the Queen, whose House Minister rebuffs her.
With the help of a courtside gigolo, she learns to use what others desire to get what she wants. She needs a patron: with forged letters, she convinces Cardinal de Rohan she is the Queen’s confidante and can help him regain royal favor. Jeanne conspires to have the Cardinal purchase a fabulous diamond necklace for the Queen. He delivers it to Jeanne for Marie Antoinette. If the scheme breaks down, what then? Might this affair spark revolution?
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.
Jeanne allegedly arranges a meeting between the two in the garden at the Palace of Versailles. Portraying the Queen is Nicole Leguay d’Oliva, an actress bearing some resemblance to her. Heavily cloaked, with her face in the shadows, she agrees to forget their past disagreements. The Cardinal believes his indiscretions have been forgiven and he once again is in the Queen’s good favor.
Jeanne advises the Cardinal the Queen has decided to purchase the necklace but, not wanting to offend the populace by openly buying such an expensive item, she wishes him to do so on her behalf, with a promise to reimburse him for the cost by the Feast of the Assumption. The Cardinal gladly agrees and presents the necklace to Rétaux de Villette, believing him to be an emissary from the Queen. Nicholas de Lamotte sells some of the diamonds, and Jeanne uses the profits to buy her family home.
The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
Directed by: Charles Shyer
Starring: Hilary Swank, Jonathan Pryce, Simon Baker, Adrien Brody, Joely Richardson, Christopher Walken, Hayden Panettiere, Paul Brooke, Hermione Gulliford
Screenplay by: John Sweet
Production Design by: Alex McDowell
Cinematography by: Ashley Rowe
Film Editing by: David Moritz
Costume Design by: Milena Canonero
Set Decoration by: Philippe Turlure
Art Direction by: Jean-Michel Ducourty, Jean-Michel Hugon
Music by: David Newman
MPAA Rating: R for some sexuality.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: December 7, 2001
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