Chicken with Plums (2011)

Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to confine himself to bed to await death.

Directors:

Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi

Writers:

Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud

Stars:

Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mathieu Amalric	...	Nasser-Ali Khan
Edouard Baer	...	Azraël
Maria de Medeiros	...	Faringuisse
Golshifteh Farahani	...	Irâne
Éric Caravaca	...	Abdi
Chiara Mastroianni	...	Lili, adulte
Mathis Bour	...	Cyrus
Enna Balland	...	Lili
Didier Flamand	...	Le maître de musique
Serge Avedikian	...	Le père d'Irâne
Rona Hartner	...	Soudabeh
Jamel Debbouze	...	Houshang / Le mendiant
Isabella Rossellini	...	Parvine
Frédéric Saurel	...	Mirza (as Fred Saurel)
Christian Friedel	...	Cyrus, 22 ans

Storyline

Nasser-Ali, a talented musician, loses the will to live after his wife breaks his beloved violin during an argument. He searches for a replacement, and finding none that sounds quite the same, he vows to die. Eight days later, he does. This is the story of his last week of life, where we see flashbacks and flash forwards of his previous life and his children's futures. We also see appearances of a nude Sophia Loren as well as the angel of death, Azarel. As we see his life, we realize exactly why he chose to end it and the profundity of this choice.

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Plot Keywords:

contemplating death | stradivarius | reference to socrates | based on franco belgian comic book | musician | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some drug content, violent images, sensuality and smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

Abdi tells Nasser-Ali that he saw there's a new film on at the Persepolis Theater. Persepolis (2007) is the first movie written and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Yeki boud, yeki naboud. There was someone, there was no one. That is how Persian tales begin. Yeki boud, yeki naboud.

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Connections

References The River Girl (1954)

User Reviews

Style vs Heart 1-0

By not betraying her own personal style and the comic source, evident in its graphic and contrived aesthetic, this film work from Marjane Satrapi doesn't' exploit his full poetic potential, as it chokes the plot in an exercise in style which enchants the eye more than the heart, in a series of surrealistic digressions, flashbacks and flash-forwards (the futures of protagonist's children), by looking for poetic effects instead of true poetry. Nevertheless, the ending, practically silent, explains and forgives the limits and the excesses of a film built on form and on a cinematographic "cinéphile" quoter mannerism, and finally gets to the craved emotion. Ironic, melancholic and visionary mix, with more care for narration and less for stylish frippery it would have been a great hymn to life: as it is now, it did it in half. Paraphrasing the character of the music master: good technique with no heart doesn't make great music.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Official site [United States]

Country:

France Germany Belgium

Language:

French English

Release Date:

26 October 2011 (France)

Also Known As:

Chicken with Plums

Filming Locations:

Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

EUR12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,301, 19 August 2012

Gross USA:

$253,874

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,265,941

Company Credits

Production Co:

Celluloid Dreams, The Manipulators, uFilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1