Kings & Queen (2004) Rois et reine (original title)

Director:

Arnaud Desplechin

Writers:

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

Release Date:

22 December 2004 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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 | Musician | Psychiatric Hospital | Cancer | Viola

Awards:

10 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Emmanuelle Devos	...	Nora Cotterelle
Geoffrey Carey	...	Claude
Thierry Bosc	...	M. Mader
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Jean-Jacques
Maurice Garrel	...	Louis Jenssens
Valentin Lelong	...	Elias Cotterelle
Olivier Borle	...	Le moniteur
Didier Sauvegrain	...	Le chirurgien
Mathieu Amalric	...	Ismaël Vuillard
François Toumarkine	...	Prospero
Miglen Mirtchev	...	Caliban
Marc Bodnar	...	Le psy de garde
Jean-Paul Roussillon	...	Abel Vuillard
Catherine Rouvel	...	Monique Vuillard
Catherine Deneuve	...	Mme Vasset
Noémie Lvovsky	...	Elizabeth
Jan Hammenecker	...	Nicolas
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	Chloé Jenssens
Marie-Françoise Gonzales	...	L'infirmière
Joachim Salinger	...	Pierre Cotterelle
Daniel Cohen	...	Le gynécologue
Fred Epaud	...	L'employé de mairie (as Frédéric Epaud)
Claude Phor	...	Le dingue
Karim Belkhadra	...	L'interne psy
Hippolyte Girardot	...	Maître Marc Mamanne
Elsa Wolliaston	...	Dr. Devereux (as Elsa Woliaston)
Gaëlle Dill	...	Victorine
Magali Woch	...	Arielle
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 (uncredited)
Anh Lili	...	(uncredited)
Alain Pointier	...	L'huissier (uncredited)

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
Frédéric Lainé	....	special makeup effects artist
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 Mattei	....	production general manager
Monica Taverna	....	second unit manager
Isabelle Tillou	....	production manager
Augustin Werkoff	....	assistant unit 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
Mohamed Jabbad	....	assistant art director
Sophie Lampkin	....	head painter
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
Edouard d'Heucqueville	....	sound mix technician
Rym Debbarh-Mounir	....	dialogue editor
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound re-recording mixer
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
Viviane Lesser	....	casting: children

Editorial Department
Idit Bloch	....	assistant editor
Célia Lafitedupont	....	assistant editor
Jérôme Pey	....	additional assistant editor
Benjamin Weill	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Thomas Jamois	....	soundtrack producer
Stéphane Reichart	....	music scoring mixer

Other crew
Marie Barré	....	location scout
Lysiane Biagini	....	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)
• JMH Distribution (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (French speaking region)
• JMH Distribution (2005) (Switzerland) (theatrical) (German speaking region)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Wild Bunch (2004) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Amazonia Films (2004-2012) (Venezuela) (all media)
• Four Films (2007) (Chile) (DVD)
• Orlando Films (2005) (Israel) (all media)
• Wellspring Media (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

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

Also Known As:

"Rois et reine" - France (original title)
"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:

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

Filming Locations:

Grenoble, Isère, France

Company:

Why Not Productions

Trivia:

The title of the movie was inspired to Arnaud Desplachin by the five first lines of a poem by Michel Leiris: "Rois sans arrois Reine sans arène Tour trouée Fou à lier Cavalier seul"

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trust the Man (2005)

Soundtrack:

Do U Remember

A royal treat

Rois et Reine starts and ends with an audio feast of divinely beautiful unplugged "Moon River". In between, it offers the richest content that I remember in any film that I've seen.

Use of two parallel, initially apparently unrelated story lines is a favourite structure for movie makers. One that immediately comes to mind is Le Huitieme Jour. In Rois et Reine, one thread is Nora, a beautiful art gallery director struggling with a terminally ill father and a fatherless son Elias. The other thread is Ismael, a viola player taken into a psychiatric ward through strange circumstances. However, it does not take long (relative to the two-and-a-half-hour film) to get to the convergence point where the audience are privy to the fact that Nora and Ismael had lived together for seven years during which Nora's son developed a devoting affection for and attachment to Ismael (which, incidentally, reminds me of a similar relationship in Love Actually, in a character played by Liam Neeson).

But this is only the bare beginning. The sprawling story surrounding these two main characters commands the viewers' every attention, and this film really deserves several viewing.

I wouldn't attempt to go into all the details of the many characters, sub-plots and sub-texts. Briefly, the central story is Nora's relationships with three men, Elias's father who was shot under suspicious circumstances, Ismael who became Elias's de facto father and the man she is now going to marry but is not really certain if she truly loves or not. While those relationships are touched on lightly, some through flashbacks, her relationship with her father Louis and sister Chloe receive sharper focus, with twists and turns leading to some rather devastating revelations towards the end.

With Ismael's family (and there are quite a few members) the circumstances are very different, but equally intriguing. While there is also conflict, and this one centres around the issue of adoption and estate, the mood in one of wry humour. Family matters aside, there is also another dimension, the psychiatric ward, where Ismael interacts with no less than three psychiatrists (one played by Catherine Deneuve) as well as a women fellow-patient Arielle with whom he develops a close relationship that continues after their discharge.

And don't be mislead into thinking that quantity will compromise quality. The entire film is throbbing with energy, telling the story in so many different ways, in so many changing moods, which, however, never feels disjointed. Similarly, the deft use of background music brings you delight in every turn.

I have only touched on the bare surface of this absorbing film. Among the many fascinating aspects of the film is the development of the two main characters and a common characteristic: both are vain and arrogant. Yet, the interesting thing is that they are not portrayed in that light at all. It's through the description by other characters that this comes to light, and then we are compelled to look behind the surface to understand.

The audience will find that there are many scenes, from devastatingly emotional to hilariously noire, that they will remember long afterwards. If I were to pick a most memorable one, however, it will be the last scene, between Ismael and Elias, and I think many who have seen the film will agree. A masterful piece of auteurist work, Rois et Reine is a film that will be a crime to miss.