''Lady Oscar'' (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: ベルサイユのばら Hepburn: ''Berusaiyu no bara'', "The Rose of Versailles") is a 1979 English-language romantic

period drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

, based on the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

The Rose of Versailles , also known as ''Lady Oscar'' and ''La Rose de Versailles'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was originally serialized in the manga magazine '' Margaret'' from 1972 to 1973, while a revival of the s ...

'' by

Riyoko Ikeda is a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group, by some, although her status as one of them has been debated due to a focus more on epic stories than the internal psychology of those mangaka. She was one of the most ...

. The film was written and directed by

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, lyricist, and screenwriter. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrat ...

, with music composed by his regular collaborator

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and jazz pianist. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to many son ...

. The British-French-Japanese co-production was produced by Mataichiro Yamamoto for

Kitty Films Kitty Films (キティフィルム ''Kiti Firumu'') was a production company established in 1972 in Japan. History The company was first established in 1972 as Kitty Music Corporation under Hidenori Taga. It was a subsidiary of Polydor and MC ...

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

, and Ciné Tamaris, and was filmed on location in France.

Catriona MacColl Catriona MacColl (born 3 October 1954) is an English actress who has worked extensively in both film and television across Europe. She is best known for her work in Italian horror films, as she has appeared in Lucio Fulci's '' City of the Living ...

stars as the eponymous

Oscar François de Jarjayes is a fictional character created by Japanese manga artist Riyoko Ikeda. She is a major character in the 1972 manga series '' The Rose of Versailles'', and its various adaptations and spin-offs. Character history Born the last of six daught ...

, with Barry Stokes as her lover

André Grandier This is a list of characters from ''The Rose of Versailles'', a shōjo manga created by Riyoko Ikeda which centers on the main character, Marie Antoinette, while the anime is about Oscar François de Jarjayes. Most of the characters are based ...

, alongside Jonas Bergström,

Christine Böhm Christine Böhm (February 19, 1954 – August 5, 1979) was an Austrian actress. She performed in many comedies and appeared on ''Arsen Lupin'', a 1970s television series. She died in an accident at age 25. Biography Böhm was born on February ...

Mark Kingston Mark Kingston (18 April 1934 – 9 October 2011) was an English actor who made many television and stage appearances over his 50-year career. Biography Kingston's father was a blacksmith and he attended Greenwich Central School and traine ...

Georges Wilson Georges Wilson (16 October 1921 – 3 February 2010) was a French film and television actor. He was the father of French actor Lambert Wilson. Biography Wilson was born in Champigny-sur-Marne, Seine (now Val-de-Marne) as the illegitimate s ...

Sue Lloyd Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits island ...

, Martin Potter, and Anouska Hempel. A young

Lambert Wilson Lambert Wilson (born 3 August 1958) is a French actor, singer and activist. He is best known internationally for his portrayal of The Merovingian in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and ''The Matrix Resurrections''. Biograph ...

appears in a minor role.

Plot

is a young woman whose father, a career military man, wanted a boy. After she was born her father took to dressing Oscar in boy's clothes and raising her as a man. Though privately Oscar acknowledges her feminine side, she dresses as a man and gains an honored position as a guard of Marie Antoinette. In her youth, Oscar is in love with Andre, the son of the family's housekeeper. Years later, when the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

begins, Oscar and Andre's paths cross for the first time in years. With the assault on the Bastille, Oscar and Andre find themselves fighting on opposite sides of the revolution.

Cast

Production

The major sponsor of the film was

Shiseido is a Japanese multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic companies in the world and ...

, a cosmetics company, and Catriona McColl promoted a red lipstick for the spring cosmetic line that year.

Frederik L. Schodt Frederik L. Schodt (born January 22, 1950) is an American translator, interpreter and writer. Biography Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 wh ...

and Jared Cook translated the entire manga series into English as a reference for the producers of this film, but gave the only copy of the translation to them and it was lost. The production was based at Auditel Studios in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, with filming locations including

Jossigny Jossigny () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the Val de Bussy sector of Marne-la-Vallée. As of 2018, its population was 671. Demographics Inhabitants are calle ...

Senlis Senlis () is a commune in the northern French department of Oise, Hautes de France. The monarchs of the early French dynasties lived in Senlis, attracted by the proximity of the Chantilly forest. It is known for its Gothic cathedral and other h ...

, and the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 19 ...

Reception

The film was not a commercial success, and Catriona MacColl's portrayal of Oscar, in particular, was criticized. Conversely, Variety described the film as recalling early Hollywood epics, and praised McColl's depiction of Oscar as a "woman waiting to burst out of a man's clothing". Kevin Thomas, writing for the Los Angeles Times, described the film as a typical Jacques Demy film, noting its preoccupation with contrasting the lives of the aristocrats and the lives of the poor. Anne Duggan took a similar view when situating ''Lady Oscar'' within the context of Demy's other films. Duggan describes Ikeda's Oscar as having "more self-knowledge" in some respects than the Oscar of the film, who therefore has arguably less agency, whereas "Demy goes further than Ikeda in challenging the tradition of the maiden warrior by questioning the implicit class prejudices underlying the order that upholds forms of aristocratic heroism".

References

External links