Let Joy Reign Supreme

Philippe d'Orleans (Philippe Noiret) is the ruling regent in late 18th Century France, where Louis XV has been dead for four years, and the French Revolution is fomenting. Though his power is contingent, the regent attempts to rule fairly and keep the peasants content due to his genuinely humanistic sentiments. Financially, however, Philippe is less noble, mismanaging the nation's treasury and siphoning funds from the American colonies. He is also a true libertine, with his greatest loyalties lying with hedonism and aestheticism. When a small uprising causes Philippe to act against his better judgement to quell the inchoate revolution, he joins forces with a corrupt, power-hungry priest, and the political and personal pressures he faces come to a head. (official distributor synopsis)