An truly international production if there ever was one, this costume epic was based on a Japanese comic book, directed by a noted French filmmaker, and features a primarily British cast. Oscar (Catriona MacColl) is a young woman whose father, a career military man, wanted a boy. Rather than surrender to his disappointment after she was born, Father took to dressing Oscar in boy's clothes and raising her in a masculine fashion. While privately Oscar acknowledges her feminine side, she still dresses as a man and has gained an honored position as a guard to Marie Antoinette (Christina Bohm). In her younger days, Oscar was deeply infatuated with Andre (Barry Stokes), the son of the family's housekeeper, and when the French Revolution begins to catch fire, Oscar and Andre's paths cross for the first time in years. However, with the assault on the Bastille, Oscar and Andre find themselves fighting on opposite sides of the political fence.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
