On this Man Candy Monday (the sexiest of Mondays), we do homage to sexy Swiss actor Vincent Perez.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) – Christian de Neuvillette
La Neige et Le Feu (1991) – Jacques Sénéchal
Indochine (1993) – Jean-Baptiste
La Reign Margot (1994) – La Môle
Swept From the Sea (1997) – Yanko Gooral
On Guard! (Le Bossu) (1997) – Duc de Nevers
Talk of Angels (1998) – Francisco Areavaga
The Libertine (2000) – Denis Diderot
Bride of the Wind (2001) – Oskar Kokoschka
Fanfan (2003) – Fanfan la Tulipe
Nouvelle-France (2004) – Intendant Le Bigot
Madame de Pompadour (2006) – Louis XV
Demain de l’Aube (2009) – Mathieu
Not *technically* an historical film, but I couldn’t resist including it because it deals with 18th-century reenactors.
Lo scandalo della Banca Romana (2010) – Clemente Claudet
The Lines of Wellington (2012) – Lévêque
The Price of Desire (2015) – Le Corbusier
Are you a fan of Vincent Perez in historical costume movies and TV shows?
Blergh. I can’t really explain it, much less justify it, but blergh. One thing, though: The man who was proposed a remake of Fanfan la Tulipe in the title role and said yes deserves to be staked to an anthill. Just sayin’
A correction to a confusing scenario – Vincent Perez starred in two movies with similar names: Fanfan (1993, aka Fanfan & Alexandre) and Fanfan la Tulipe (2003, title often shortened). The screenshot above is from the 1993 film, which starred Sophie Marceau as Fanfan (as seen in the screenshot) and Perez as Alexandre, a character based on the film’s director, Alexandre Jardin, who also wrote the novel on which the film is based. It’s set in contemporary times, but in that screenshot, Fanfan and Alexandre are in costumes on a movie set of 1813 Vienna.
Perez played the titular character in Fanfan la Tulipe (which I have not seen) and is a remake of a 1952 swashbuckler. To add to the confusion, I believe Sophie Marceau’s modern character in the 1990s novel/film was named or nicknamed after that swashbuckling Fanfan.
He is easy on the eye – for sure. I just knew him from “La Reign Margot”. Love that movie. It’s a who’s who with all those Frence actors. Don’t know why they are keeping the dvd price of that movie so high. But boy he’s been in more costume dramas than I would have guessed. And often playing the title role. I’m gonna hunt those films down. But have to re-watch my “Cyrano” dvd and give him my undivided attention 😉.
Well! I’m certainly a fan now.
Le Bossu is one of my favorite films–put it in the same box as The Princess Bride for sheer energy and wit–and Perez plays sort of a dashing doofus (is that a thing?) who befriends the low-born hero. Fantastic swordplay, too. Have you done a Man Candy Monday for Daniel Auteuil? He definitely deserves!
Fanfan la Tulipe is a disaster (costume wise and everything wise) . It’d be worth you put it on your list for snark week next year!
Pérez is just one of the best actors in swashbuckler films because he is so credible. I don’t know which was his best role. He played Louis XV remarkably well (maybe the best Louis for decades) although the film is somehow poor, although Charlotte de Turckheim is great as queen Marie.
One thing I love about this website is how it shines a light on some relatively-obscure people and films. Case in point: Vincent Perez who I have been in love with since the 90s. La Reine Margot and Indochine sealed the deal for me! I wish he were better known in the US! That said, I don’t wish he were in more Hollywood films (they just don’t seem to be a good fit for him), but rather I wish his foreign-language films were more popular here!
Do you mean “Nouvelle France”? That’s one of the worst movies I saw for quiet a while. Some famous actors (Tim Roth and Vincent Perez) in a absolutely stupid story and amateurish led film.
By the way, I’m always astonished that many French films are relatively-obscure for the English speaking audience.
Philippe Noiret should be in the list.
Do you know how to watch these in America?