Kings And Queen

I enjoyed this very much. French movies seen generally just to have better stories, more complex characters, interesting issues. This film covers mental health issues, illness of loved ones and adoption as it weaves its tale, but not in a heavy handed way. Amalric is the reason I was watching, he's just great, a natural clown, and yet so tragic, but the female lead is interesting too, an interesting character she plays, so great not get a bog standard female architype. I liked that the threads weren't clean, and that there seemed almost to be a few more films in there somewhere. Maybe we'll be lucky enough to see them one day.

Well worth watching for the Catherine Deneuve cameo role. Very arty farty French cinema but I do quite like it.

If you connect with the stories told in this film then it may turn out to be one of the most memorable you will ever see. A brutal, moving, completely unsentimental (don't be fooled by the cheesy trailer) dollop of truth, presented within this wildly unpredictable, jumpy, often bizarre, totally wonderful stylistic mish-mash. Yes it's long - 2 hours 40 minutes - but frankly I was so entranced by this film I wanted it never to end. When it did end I felt like someone had been tickling my ribs for two hours with one hand, while punching me in the heart with the other. More than anything Kings And Queen made me want to find Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant, scrunch it up into a ball, and stuff it into their mouths shouting 'eat it - EAT IT', until both of them stopped breathing for ever.

French cinema at its best. Offer you something different to watch with lots of different emotions without forgetting the laughters. Mathieu Amalric is just perfect in this role, a great actor!!

I really enjoyed this film, and it stayed in my mind for longer than most. It's complicated. In fact, I watched it twice with great enjoyment, in order to understand how the bits of plot interrelate. It's very French, and reminds me a little of Eric Rohmer - it seems loosely constructed (although I'm sure it's tightly controlled) - and there is a lot of discussion. It's made up of two basic stories - a woman's story and a man's story - they are ex-lovers. It's made up of many short episodes grouped together. This film is not for fans of films which are plot driven; you need patience to watch this film. You have to work out where it's going - it's not all laid out for you. But I think it's worth it. Some of the set piece episodes - the gun fight in the shop, the break dancing in the mental health class - are just marvellous. I found the last episode with the man and his ex's son to be so touching and tender. I also think it's well shot, and enjoyed the music and the editing. I'm definitely now a fan of Desplechin, and will watch his other films. For me, however, it was a little too long at 2 hours 15 mins, hence 4 stars.