Miramax is known for its lavish, lush adaptations of classic literature. It specializes in many eras, from Emma to An Ideal Husband and Shakespeare in Love. One of its lesser-known foreign films is Vatel, a story based on a true-to-life event in French history. While gorgeous to look at, it betrays itself by too much pomp and not enough feeling. At the height of society in the perpetually dark seventeen hundreds, France is contemplating a war with Holland. His Majesty Louis XIV (Julian Sands) is seeking the proper general to lead his victory, and among those being contemplated is Prince de Conde (Julian Glover), an outer limb of the aristocracy and a former war hero who is gravely in debt to his creditors. 

All is not progressing well in the country. The surfs are anxious to be paid for the lavish festivities which they have donated to Vatel's house to impress the king. The King's brother has taken a dislike to Vatel's sense of ceremony and his friends are almost uncontrollable. Amidst the polished silver and sugar flowers is brewing a sinister thread of trouble, not merely amongst the aristocracy, but those below kitchens as well. Can Vatel cut off trouble at its source, or will his house of cards come tumbling down?

Visually, this film is a delight. The costuming and sets are exquisite, the lavish decorations revealing to a shocked audience just how frivolous the court of France was in this period. Some of their festivities would put modern galas to shame. The food looks utterly delicious, more of a feast for the eyes than the stomach. We watch in jealousy as the king and his courtiers are given ornate formations of sugared flowers and fruits, and platters of food decorated in peacock feathers. Typical to the French, passions run wild but the film never entirely manages to make us care all that much. In delicate taste, the film alludes to many an impassioned affair... hints of scandal and impropriety while never entirely giving it all away or showing us too much. This type of filming is almost as disconcerting as showing everything; for you know what's going on just below the surface. Sadly, all of the main characters are immoral. Sexual blackmail is used on one occasion; implications of homosexual overtures on another.

People are seen slipping in and out of rooms and on two occasions nudity is implied; once as Anne hurries to return to her rooms (seen in silhouette), and another when a young boy is tossed into a giant washing barrel. Through veiled dialogue, the king's brother sends someone to proposition Vatel, who empathetically refuses. Cleavage is also excessive in almost every scene. Even more disconcerting is the violence. Men are stabbed, battered, and whipped; blood spatters the wall and floor, and is seen on aprons and hands. A servant is accidentally strangled. Vatel is forced to sacrifice his parrots to save Anne's birds; they are killed and their hearts wrapped around a gout foot. The film's worst flaw is that it doesn't have much heart behind it. We grow fond of Vatel and Anne out of self defense, but the ending is depressing and the means of getting there as fragile as glass ornaments. When all is said and done, it's a pretty piece of wrapping with an empty box as as profit: pretty to look at, but empty.