Though it wavers uneasily between the banal and the intriguing, the inherent interest in this story of the 16th-century prophet, who seems to have seen more of the future than anyone before or since, finally wins the day. If there is a way to present his life, this relatively sober account is probably as good as any. Tcheky Karyo is quite good (if uncharismatic) in the title role, a physician and scientist who miraculously escaped execution (although not persecution) at the hands of anti-heretics, most notably thanks to the intervention of the Queen of France (another offbeat performance by Amanda Plummer). As he becomes increasingly tormented by visions (presented often in lamentably facile fashion), the film studies his life story, from boyhood, through marriage to his first wife (Julia Ormond) who, with their two children, dies from the plague. There's some impressive 'medieval' production design in all this, and Rutger Hauer pops in for a cough-and-spit cameo as 'the mystic monk'.


©ipc tx. Film content from TVTimes