The Black Tulip (La Tulipe)

The Black Tulip- cast: Alain Delon





I saw this movie while I was in Senior High School, the highlighted background of French revolution, and the stunning cast of Alain Delon was the most attractive to me.  Alain,  the most handsome man in France as addressed in 50-70 era, his beautiful blue eyes and the thin lips with mysterious and evil smile really haunted the fans.

The movie was directed by Christian Jaque in 1964 basing on the novel by Alexandre Dumas pere, and music by Gerard Calvi.

The background story of the movie describes on the eve of the French Revolution, in June, 1789, a masked bandit, "The Black Tulip", is prosecuting his own reign of terror in and around the town of Roussillion.  The poor people of the district consider him a hero, as his victims are always the detested aristocrats.  The Marquis de Vigogne is resolved to put an end to the Black Tulip's exploits and engages the Baron de la Mouche to capture him.  La Mouche is certain that the bandit is the nobleman, Guillaume de Saint Preux, and lays a trap to unmask him. In a swordfight, Saint Preux is facially scarred by La Mouche, but manages to escape.  Aware that not to show himself in public will prove that he is the Black Tuilp,  Saint Preux appeals to his younger brother, Julien, to assume his identity for a time.  Julien accepts, believing that Guillaume shares his belief in the impending revolution.  When he then learns that his brother has been acting only out of self-interest, Julien decides to use the Black Tulip's notoriety to further the revolutionary cause.

La Tulipe noire stands as a shining example of the popular French historical film. What is most enjoyable about this film is its great sense of fun, which stems from the satirical element in Duma's novel.  With the historical film, it is notoriously difficult to straddle the thin dividing line between serious drama and outright farce, but this film manages it remarkably well.  There is plenty of comedy, but it is used sparingly, to relieve tension and allows unlikeable characters to appear sympathetic.  In essence, La Tulipe noire is the perfect marriage of comedy and swash-buckling adventure, a timeless classic which is just as entertaining for adults as it is for children.  Most of all , in the Saint Preux brothers, we see the two opposite sides of Delon's on-screen persona - the tender, flawed hero, and the cold, cynical anti-hero, that's the major part for Alain's fans to remember.