Grace of Monaco (2014)
Certified: PG
Duration: 103 minutes
Directed: Olivier Dahan
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Frank Langella, Parker Posey, Milo Ventimiglia, Derek Jacobi, Paz Vega, Geraldine Somerville, Robert Lindsay, Nicholas Farrell, Roger Ashton-Griffiths
KRS release
Grace of Monaco is a beautiful-looking film that has been mired in controversy from the very start of its production. Initially, this was mostly due to the insistence of the Monaco royal family that this movie was not an actual biopic but rather an interpretation of events.
This was exacerbated by a tug-of-war between director Olivier Dahan, who was behind the superlative Edith Piaf bio-picture La Vie en Rose (2007), and notorious producer Harvey Weinstein. This clash is supposed to have resulted into two versions of the film after the two engaged in an open war, with the director speaking openly about blackmailing attempts made by the producer. Despite all this, Grace of Monaco opened the Cannes Film Festival.
When Hollywood diva and actress Grace Kelly (Nicole Kidman) became a princess, the world saw this as the perfect Hollywood fairy tale taking place in real time and in the real world. The fact that this was not the case is public knowledge.
The film does not follow the life story of Kelly but focuses on one particular phase in her life. We find her married to Prince Rainer III (Tim Roth) but not used to the royal atmosphere and rules and the European lifestyle. In fact, she seems very unhappy.
Enter Alfred Hitchcock (Roger Ashton Griffiths) who had made her the star of his thrillers Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. He wants her to play the main role of a very sexually disturbed character in his upcoming psychological thriller Marnie. The prince does not like this and does not want her to return to Hollywood. On the other hand, there is also political intrigue where a turf war is taking place between French president Charles De Gaulle (Andre Penvern) and the tax-free state of Monaco, which could result in the state of Monaco being taken over by the French government.
Kelly realises that if she leaves for Hollywood and abandons her royal duties and post, it could leave the way open for annexation. Thus she starts to enter into her role as Princess Grace.
Kidman brings this sense of emotional vacuum to the screen. The way she is dressed and bejewelled makes her look even more the part and one leaves the film with the feeling of having seen how the real Kelly could have possibly looked: shimmering and shiny, yet trapped and lost. On the other hand, Roth chain-smokes his way through the movie, providing a contrast to Kidman, while Langella manages to provide the film with some golden nuggets of wisdom.
Grace of Monaco manages to deliver a slice of history that is not so well known. I believe that after quite a few years we will also get to see a film re-enacting the sagas and backstage wars of what went into the production of the film.