Kings and Queen

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Kings and Queen
Rois-et-reine-poster.jpg
French poster
French Rois et reine
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Written byRoger Bohbot
Arnaud Desplechin
Produced byPascal Caucheteux
Starring Emmanuelle Devos
Mathieu Amalric
Catherine Deneuve
Noémie Lvovsky
Cinematography Eric Gautier
Edited byLaurence Briaud
Music byGrégoire Hetzel
Production
companies
France 2 Cinéma
Rhône-Alpes Cinéma
Why Not Productions
Distributed by Bac Films
Release dates
  • 3 September 2004 (2004-09-03)(Venice)
  • 22 December 2004 (2004-12-22)(France)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$3,8 million
Box office$4,575,710 [1]

Kings and Queen (French : Rois et reine) is a 2004 French drama film directed by Arnaud Desplechin, starring Emmanuelle Devos and Mathieu Amalric. The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 61st Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2004. It was released in France on 22 December 2004.

Contents

Plot

Nora Cotterelle, a woman in her 30s is caring for her ill father, Louis Jenssens.

While Nora tries to present a facade that all is well with her life, she is twice divorced and has a son, Elias, whose father is dead. Elias has behavior problems caused by autism.

Nora's present relationship is not going well, and she is soon to marry a businessman, while Elias is becoming increasingly withdrawn.

A parallel storyline follows her former lover and second husband, Ismaël Vuillard, a musician, with whom she had lived for seven years. He is given to strange behaviour, and as a result he has been committed to a mental hospital, from which he is planning to escape.

Nora learns that her father's digestive problems are actually cancer, and facing her father's death, Nora desperately seeks out Ismaël to ask that he reconnect with Elias, but he has mixed feelings about adopting her son. Moreover, he has met Arielle, another patient.

Cast

Release

The film had its world premiere in the Competition section at the 61st Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2004. [2] [3] It was released in France on 22 December 2004. [4]

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 57 reviews, and an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "A dryly comic, stylistically brave film." [5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [6]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "rich, complex and deeply pleasing". [7] Erica Abeel of Film Journal International wrote: "Its novelistic breadth, pitched intensity and on-the-fly shooting style pull the viewer smack-dab into the middle of these lives." [8]

Accolades

AwardYear of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef(s)
Louis Delluc Prize 2004Best FilmKings and QueenWon [9]
Lumières Award 2005 Best Actor Mathieu AmalricWon [10]
Best Actress Emmanuelle DevosWon
César Award 2005 Best Film Kings and QueenNominated [11] [12]
Best Director Arnaud DesplechinNominated
Best Actor Mathieu AmalricWon
Best Actress Emmanuelle DevosNominated
Best Supporting Actor Maurice GarrelNominated
Most Promising Actress Magali WochNominated
Best Writing Roger Bohbot and Arnaud DesplechinNominated

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References

  1. "Rois et reine (Kings and Queen) (2004) - JPBox-Office".
  2. Brooks, Brian (30 July 2004). "Mueller Sets Solid Slate for 61st Venice International Film Festival". IndieWire . Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. "Friday, September 3, 2004". Venice Biennale . Archived from the original on 22 August 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  4. "Rois & reine". AlloCine . Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  5. "Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  6. "Kings & Queen". Metacritic . Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  7. Bradshaw, Peter (10 June 2005). "Kings and Queen". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  8. Abeel, Erica (11 May 2005). "Kings and Queen". Film Journal International . Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  9. Nesselson, Lisa (19 December 2004). "Crix crown 'Kings'". Variety . Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  10. James, Alison (16 February 2005). "Paris journos cue 'Chorus'". Variety . Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  11. Lemercier, Fabien (25 February 2005). "Jeunet or Jugnot". Cineuropa. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  12. James, Alison (26 February 2005). "French favor outsider 'L'Esquive'". Variety . Retrieved 6 March 2020.