Rois et reine (2004)

Director:

Arnaud Desplechin

Writers:

Arnaud Desplechin (scenario & dialogue) &
Roger Bohbot (scenario & dialogue)

Release Date:

22 December 2004 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Parallel storylines tell the current state of affairs for two ex-lovers: Nora's a single mother who comes to care for her terminally ill father; holed in up in mental ward, Ismael, a brilliant musician, plots his escape.

Plot Keywords:

Grenoble | Psychiatric Hospital | Playing With Gun | Hanging | Guilt

Awards:

9 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Emmanuelle Devos	...	Nora Cotterelle
Mathieu Amalric	...	Ismaël Vuillard
Catherine Deneuve	...	Mme Vasset
Maurice Garrel	...	Louis Jenssens
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	Chloé Jenssens
Jean-Paul Roussillon	...	Abel Vuillard
Magali Woch	...	Arielle, la "chinoise"
Hippolyte Girardot	...	Maître Marc Mamanne
Noémie Lvovsky	...	Elizabeth
Elsa Wolliaston	...	Dr. Devereux (as Elsa Woliaston)
Geoffrey Carey	...	Claude
Valentin Lelong	...	Elias Cotterelle
Thierry Bosc	...	M. Mader
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Jean-Jacques
Olivier Borle	...	Le moniteur
Didier Sauvegrain	...	Le chirurgien
François Toumarkine	...	Prospero
Miglen Mirtchev	...	Caliban
Marc Bodnar	...	Le psy de garde
Catherine Rouvel	...	Monique Vuillard
Jan Hammenecker	...	Nicolas
Marie-Françoise Gonzales	...	L'infirmière
Joachim Salinger	...	Pierre Cotterelle
Daniel Cohen	...	Le gynécologue
Frédéric Epaud	...	L'employé de mairie
Claude Phor	...	Le dingue
Karim Belkhadra	...	L'interne psy
Gaëlle Dill	...	Victorine
Shulamit Adar	...	Mme Seyvos
Marc Betton	...	Léopold Virag, l'éditeur
Gilles Cohen	...	Simon
Francis Leplay	...	Christian, le félon
Bernard Garnier	...	Le médecin-légiste
Joël Dahan	...	L'auteur
Rachid Hami	...	Marcello
Marion Touitou	...	Delphine
Yann Coridian	...	Fidèle
Andrée Tainsy	...	La grand-mère
Sarah Lefèvre	...	L'amie de Nora
Denis Falgoux	...	Le flic
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Laurencina Lam	...	Hospital receptionist
Anh Lili
Alain Pointier	...	L'huissier

Directed by
Arnaud Desplechin

Writing credits
Arnaud Desplechin		(scenario & dialogue) &
Roger Bohbot		(scenario & dialogue)

Produced by
Pascal Caucheteux	....	producer

Original Music by
Grégoire Hetzel

Cinematography by
Eric Gautier

Film Editing by
Laurence Briaud

Casting by
Stéphane Touitou

Production Design by
Dan Bevan

Costume Design by
Nathalie Raoul

Makeup Department
Benoît Lestang	....	special makeup effects artist
Eric Monteil	....	key hair stylist
Thi-Loan Nguyen	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Marine Billet	....	assistant unit manager
Mederic Bourlat	....	unit production manager
Martine Cassinelli	....	production manager
Laurencina Lam	....	post-production manager
Thibault Mattel	....	production general manager
Isabelle Tillou	....	production manager
Edouard Decker	....	assistant unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Barbara Canale	....	assistant director
Julien Greco	....	second assistant director
Denis Kralj	....	second assistant director
Gabriele Roux	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Yann Dury	....	construction coordinator
Laurent Saimond	....	property master
Nathalie Serrière	....	assistant art director
Maxime Girault	....	art department trainee (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nicolas Bouvet	....	assistant sound editor
Frank Ceven	....	assistant foley artist
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Yves Coméliau	....	assistant sound
Rym Debbarh-Mounir	....	dialogue editor
Edouard d'Heucqueville	....	sound mix technician
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound
Sophie Laloy	....	assistant sound
Claire-Anne Largeron	....	sound editor
Christian Monheim	....	sound
Sébastien Noiré	....	sound editor
Seppe van Groeningen	....	boom operator
Benjamin Viau	....	assistant foley artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Néwine Behi	....	second assistant camera
Patrick de Ranter	....	Steadicam operator
Claudia Imbert	....	assistant camera
Nicolas Leroy	....	grip
Jean-Claude Lother	....	still photographer
Pascale Marin	....	assistant camera
Eric Martinot	....	key grip
Thomas Collignon	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Amélie Covillard	....	extras casting assistant

Editorial Department
Idit Bloch	....	assistant editor
Célia Lafitedupont	....	assistant editor
Benjamin Weill	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Stéphane Reichart	....	music scoring mixer

Other crew
Marie Barré	....	location scout
Agnès Chabot	....	press attache
Sylvia Pain	....	administrator
Emmanuel Dehaene	....	additional location assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Why Not Productions
• France 2 Cinéma (co-production)
• Rhône-Alpes Cinéma (co-production)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Procirep (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• Centre Européen Cinématographique Rhône-Alpes (participation)
• Cofimage 15 (participation)
• Wild Bunch (participation)

Distributors

• 791 Cine (2007) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Bac Films (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Filmhouse (2005) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Groupement National des Cinémas de Recherche (GNCR) (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Amazonia Films (2004-2012) (Venezuela) (all media)
• Four Films (2007) (Chile) (DVD)
• Orlando Films (2005) (Israel) (all media)

Other Companies

• Les Auditoriums de Joinville  sound re-recording (as Auditoriums de Joinville)

Also Known As:

Kings & Queen (USA)
Kings and Queen (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:150 min | USA:150 min | Argentina:150 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Hungary:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | France:U | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Grenoble, Isère, France

Company:

Why Not Productions

Trivia:

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi was first considered for the role of Nora.

Quotes:

Nora Cotterelle: There are four men I loved. I killed two of them.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trust the Man (2005)

Soundtrack:

Pavane pour une Infante défunte

the most extravagantly praised french film of the year...

I was so hoping it would live up to the hype...and it almost does - but you know how it goes with extravagantly praised films.

Desplechin's 1996 "My Sex Life" was brilliant - a rambling, shambling, thoroughly engaging 3 hour trip through the lives of a group of rambling, shambling, lost characters, made by a director looking to pour as much raw life into a film as possible and let the rest sort itself out. He has no interest in a well-knit story....

This somehow doesn't work as well here...what is missing is the "engaging" part. This isn't a matter of his being unable edit himself; it's just characters and their situations just seem less able to cross the divide and touch you.

But i'm all in favor of Desplechin's intentions. This is a director definitely worthy of trust and respect. And can all those critics be wrong? I'm going to see this again.

"My Sex Life" had the benefit of three wonderful actors: Mathieu Almaric, Jeanne Ballibar and Emmanuelle Devos...we need more films from all three. Almaric and Devos return here. He is, as always, terrifically fun to watch. But this is her movie...Emmanuelle Devos seems to be coming into her own now, after years of playing lesser roles (The Beat my Heart Skipped). She is a marvel. Always playing the victim, stoic and long-suffering, and always bringing to this role a huge richness of feeling. She is heart-wrenching here, as she was in "My Sex Life", which she practically stole. And what a remarkable look she has...one moment the ugly duckling, another moment a ravishing beauty. I can't take my eyes off her. A great actress.