Vatel

Vatel (2000) — watch online on iFILM, a historical drama by Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields) with Gérard Depardieu, Uma Thurman, and Tim Roth. France, 1671: a financially ruined prince invites Louis XIV for three days of feasts and spectacle, hoping royal favour restores his standing. Everything depends on his steward, François Vatel.

Vatel is brilliant and low-born — a man who can stage fireworks for ten thousand guests and still be addressed like furniture. The king takes notice of Anne de Montausier (Uma Thurman), the woman Vatel loves. Tim Roth plays the Marquis de Lauzun, whose court manners conceal something colder. The logistics alone could break Vatel. The politics will finish the job.

Joffé frames the lavish production as a trap rather than a backdrop. The historical Vatel died during these exact festivities — reportedly when the fish for the royal feast arrived late. The film earns that ending. Stream Vatel (2000) online on iFILM.