A King Without Distraction (1963)
"Un roi sans divertissement" (original title)

A policeman and a serial killer play cat and mouse in an isolated mountain village in Nineteenth century France.

Director:

François Leterrier

Writer:

Jean Giono

Stars:

Claude Giraud, Colette Renard, Charles Vanel

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Claude Giraud	...	Capitaine Langlois
Colette Renard	...	Clara
Charles Vanel	...	Le procureur du Roi
Pierre Repp	...	Ravanel
Albert Rémy	...	Le maire
René Blancard	...	Le curé

Storyline

A policeman and a serial killer play cat and mouse in an isolated mountain village in Nineteenth century France.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

30 August 1963 (France)

Also Known As:

A King Without Distraction

Filming Locations:

Plateau de l'Aubrac, Auvergne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Jean Giono

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Pourquoi faut-il que les hommes s'ennuient?"
Written, Composed and interpreted by Jacques Brel

User Reviews

A king without distraction : A murder mystery about the strangeness of human mind

"Un roi sans divertissement" is a highly unusual French film based on a book written by famous French writer Jean Giono who was born in Manosque,France.He also took part in the writing of the film.I got a chance to see this film when it was shown at an annual cinema event created for the restoration of old films "Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma de Vincennes" 2006 at Vincennes near Paris.A new restored version of this film was shown at Vincennes in the presence of its director François Leterrier.Although this film is a prolific murder mystery,the best thing about it is its depiction of rural life in France.Each character appears lost as if something has happened to the world around.We see how ordinary people go about their normal lives despite the fact that killings have occurred in their midst.It must be stated that "Un roi sans divertissement" succeeds because it shows more of human character then a simple murder mystery.We get to have a first hand vision of why people kill.The film has more or less remained faithful to the original book "Un roi sans divertissement". This is something which makes this film an outstanding work which is hard to classify in the realm of French cinema. This is one of the good reasons to watch this film as not many good novels have been made into good films.