Kings and Queen Movie Review 2004

French portrait of seemingly ordinary life, steeped with hints at a dark reality that refuses to admit the truth. Nora is a dwice-divorced, hip, intelligent art gallery owner, and mother to an 11-year-old boy. She's now engaged to a very rich man, and has a father dying of stomach cancer. A standard set-up to any Hollywood melodrama, but Hollywood doesn't exist in France. Therefore, Nora may not care about any of them the way we think she should. Ismael is Nora's most recent lover, stuck in a mental institution only because of poor judgment. These characters talk for real, and walk right past the emotional traps that any Hollywood screenplay might fall into. Stunning conclusion leaves an almost dirty taste in the mouth.

Distribution

Wellspring Media, A Division of Genius Products, Inc., 2230 Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90904, Phone: (310)453-1222, Fax: (310)453-0074, URL: http://www.wellspring.com

Available on DVD
Running time 150 minutes.
Originally from French.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Family Drama, Adoption & Orphans, Mental Hospitals, Dads, France, Suicide, Widows & Widowers

Screenplay

Arnaud Desplechin, Roger Bohbot

Cast

Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Deneuve, Magali Woch, Olivier Rabourdin, Maurice Garrel, Nathalie Boutefeu, Hippolyte Girardot, Joachim Salinger

Cinematography

Eric Gautier

Director

Arnaud Desplechin

Other

Jean-Pierre Laforce, Christian Monheim, Laurence Briaud, Nathalie Raoul, Dan Bevan

Producer

Pascal Caucheteux, Why Not Productions, France 2 Cinema, Rhone Alps Cinema