Mistral's Daughter
Mistral's Daughter
| 24 September 1984 (USA)
Mistral's Daughter Trailers

Beautiful and naïve Maggy Lunel arrives in Paris completely broke. She becomes an artist's model and the toast of Paris, attracting the attention of Picasso-like painter Julien Mistral, an arrogant and selfish man who places his work above everything. Their paths diverge as Mistral's art catches the eye of a rich American woman who becomes his patroness and eventually his wife. During the war years in France, Mistral collaborates with the Nazis in order to continue with his work, a decision that will come back to haunt him years later. In the meantime, Maggy has a daughter named Teddy who grows up and falls in love with Mistral with whom she has a child named Fauve. As Mistral ages, he comes to terms with his selfish past and wartime betrayal through his art, leaving a beautiful legacy for his daughter, Fauve.

Reviews
charmadu

The only reason to watch Mistral's Daughter is Timothy Dalton who appears in Episodes 2 and 3. He's the reason I'm giving 10 stars. If I could just buy episodes 2 and 3, I would. This man is like a woman's dream come true - he comes across as so sincere, so sexy, so kind, so accepting and so devoid of ego - what woman interested in men, would NOT want to be loved by a man like this? Name another actor with that level of drop dead gorgeous looks, that sumptuous voice, that dazzling charm, acting talent for days and so generous to his fellow actors! I confess envy that Stephanie Powers got to do these scenes with him and honestly, don't know how she didn't keep from jumping his bones for real. When I die, I want to see Timothy Dalton in heaven - please God!!!!

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huh_oh_i_c

Usually, I don't think Hollywood productions are fit to be called film, so I call them 'movies' instead. But this piece of elephant manure, is not even fit to be called a movie, hence the quotes in the title.Where shall i start? 1. If this isn't the start of geriatric casting, it sure is the epitome of it. Stefanie Powers is supposed to play someone even LESS than half her age, she's supposed to play an 18 year old, and she is FORTY effing TWO!!!! 2. A horrible and stupid mindless portrayal of Paris and France, where we see cliché characters such as: the sympathetic grumpy shop owner, the bitchy queen of models, the fairy god mother ex-queen of models, etc. This film is surpassed only in this respect by the Da Vinci Code, (which reviewers correctly determined was a comedy). 3. It's highly and utterly ridiculous to have no nudity in a film about a time and a place where nudity was so common place, especially if the whole focus is about that4. The horrible accents!!! 5. The Nana Mouskouri elevator-music!!!I could go on, but i think this is enough. And I was able to make these observations after watching this crap for just half an hour, WHILE surfing the internet and talking to my friends about math equations ... I mean ...!!!!!I invite everyone to add to my list. :) :P :D

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lindakappa

A cozy up to the fire kind of flick for a rainy day blubber-fest. The "mistral" a wild, hot wind that blows for weeks in parts of Greece and Italy, this epic tale blows likewise, with the fiery passion of a true "romantic". Yes, Stephanie Powers is probably the only woman who could have pulled off the age span, and she does it very well.But once Timothy Dalton took over the screen all else paled. Talk about wild and hot, this man could make any woman burn! When Dalton leaves the stage the movie begins to go downhill for those of us who love to look at that gorgeous face! If Judith Krantz knew T.D. would have been playing him, I would like to think she would have kept him around longer. But alas, the plot did not, so to speak. My enthusiasm began to wane even though the heroine's life didn't.Mistral himself comes off as what he is, an egocentric, artistic cad, well done by Stacey Keach. You do begin to despise the man. Loved the story, and the scenery was breath-taking enough to make me want to hop a plane for France, just to travel the countryside and see what Krantz saw when she wrote it.The artworks depicted in the film were striking, and one could almost believe to find them in some gallery in New York or Chicago. All in all, a chick-flick, but one worth re-visiting on a lonely day.

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blanche-2

This is another of those big, lush '80s miniseries, better known as trash wallows. What fun they were - expensive, scenic, opulent. Mistral's Daughter is based on a novel by Judith Kranz, concerning three generations of women in the same family involved with a great artist, portrayed by Stacy Keach. Stefanie Powers plays Maggy, the matriarch of the family, who, as a young woman, meets Mistral and becomes involved with him. Later on, her daughter meets him, falls in love with him and bears him a child.Mistral is a real jerk, a Nazi collaborator who turns escaping Jews away at his gates and even turns in a few to get paint supplies. The kind of total narcissist codependents fall in love with. When his illegitimate daughter finds out about this years later, Mistral has to come to grips with his own selfish, self-absorbed life.For a good actor, Stacy Keach isn't very good in this - everyone suffers from rotten accents. Stefanie Powers is always good but playing a 17-year-old when she was over 40 may not have been the best move, although she certainly is very beautiful.All in all, this is a very entertaining miniseries. Just don't take it too seriously and enjoy it for what it is - an '80s artifact.

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