Different versions of The King's Whore

"People can be unscrupulous when they see things they can't have."

The King’s Whore is a good example how editor’s part is very important in a finished movie. I have seen 2 versions of this movie: one is on a US dvd with 114’ running time and the other on a dvd released in Netherlands with only 89’ running time. I can understand if parts in a movie is cut off because of violence or nudity; but in this case it seems the cuts were made because they were afraid there’s not enough space if the movie is more than 90’ or 120’.

I read various reviews about this movie and mostly were negative and I actually decided not to buy it; but in the end I ended with 2 versions instead. The more I watch this, the more interesting it becomes. This is an interesting study about human's passion. King Vittorio Amadeo (Timothy Dalton) reigned in Piedmont and one day he saw his chamberlein’s wife, Jeanne (Valeria Golino) and wanted her to be his mistress. Jeanne was very in love with her husband, but every one around her asked her to give up because the king locked up himself and wouldn’t attend the court until she came to him. Later Jeanne would seek revenge for those who had made her life miserable.

The US version’s editor is Joële van Effenterre, while the Dutch is Brian Oates. It’s interesting that both versions have different scene orders. The US version begins with a group of some kind of soldiers marching and we could also see a fox which later went into a house and chased by two dogs. The fox is completely gone from the Dutch version. The fox’s fate was similar to Jeanne, who later was trapped in her situation. Jeanne and her family left France to deliver her sisters to become nuns, but Jeanne herself didn’t want to be the Christ’s bride, so lucky for her that the young chamberlain, Count di Verua (Stéphane Freiss) fell in love with her and married her. The Count took her to the Turin palace and introduced her to the king, who later was obsessed with her.

In the table below you can see scene order differences from when Jeanne first met the king until she came to him in Rivoli:

And below is a table that shows scenes missing from either version:


Below are some dialogues which are missing from the American version:
Below are examples of different dialogues used in the same scene:


If I had to choose between the 2 versions, I would take the American version because it's longer.
Dutch version editor cut little here and there in almost every scene. Like the scene where the king came to visit Jeanne, some of his lines were gone.
The king : There. You forced me to stoop to this like a thief. Can’t you see what’s happening to me? I feel it’s tearing me apart. I don’t understand. I feel as if a wild beast inside me is eating me every time I think of you. [The blue lines are missing from the Dutch version.]
This version didn't really tell what happened to the king in the end after Jeanne left him. Also in the 3/4 of the movie, strangely for a moment we could see Jeanne wearing the mourning dress in the wake scene which occurred many scenes before.

In the ending, the Dutch version offers this dialogue:
Jeanne: I come to you.
The king : I had to end it.
Jeanne : I’m here.
The king : Yes.
[I can't hear clearly what they were saying in this particular moment in the American version, but it starts with Jeanne said : 'So empty' and she referred to something the king had said in the past.]

Someone who has seen the German version (132’) said to me that some scenes are longer and two scenes not available in US & Dutch versions are: 1. After the king threw Jeanne out from his room, she covered herself up and asked a servant for a room to spend the night. 2. When they visited a countess’s house which had many paintings, Jeanne had a conversation with the queen that the king willed to give her anything but her freedom.
And there is a difference in the dialogue when Jeanne was taking a bath:
Did all editors understood the director's vision? It could have been they were given liberty to edit the movie as they liked it. In the American version, in the ending scene, Jeanne walked away from the king and said 'I love you' - as if she was ashamed and guilty because it was too late, while in the Dutch version when she said it she mounted on his wheel-device [I don't know the name of that thing] as if she wanted to take some of his pain.

I hope that I will be able to watch this movie in its entirety and its original language (English). I heard when it had its premiere in Cannes, the running time was 137'

I don't list all differences, it will need more serious work. This is only to give an insight on this movie and its various versions. There is a probability that if you don't understand this movie, it's because you watch the one which has been butchered too much.

I end this with dialogues in the ending scene:
The king :We had our time, didn’t we? It’s passed.
Jeanne : We? Did we make use of it?
The king : Yes.
Jeanne : What was I so frightened of?
The king : Of pain. We all are.


The King's Whore (a.k.a. La Putain du Roi)
Director: Axel Corti
Main actors : Timothy Dalton, Valeria Golino, Stéphane Freiss, Robin Renucci, Margaret Tyzack