Chinese Puzzle (2013)

A 40-year-old father's life is complicated when the mother of his two children moves to New York. Since he can't bear them growing up far away from him, he decides to move there as well.

Director:

Cédric Klapisch

Writer:

Cédric Klapisch (screenplay)

Stars:

Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Cécile de France

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Romain Duris	...	Xavier Rousseau
Audrey Tautou	...	Martine
Cécile de France	...	Isabelle (as Cécile De France)
Kelly Reilly	...	Wendy
Sandrine Holt	...	Ju
Flore Bonaventura	...	Isabelle de Groote - la babysitter
Jochen Hägele	...	Hegel et Schopenhauer - les philosophes allemands
Benoît Jacquot	...	Monsieur Rousseau - le père de Xavier
Pablo Mugnier-Jacob	...	Tom Rousseau
Margaux Mansart	...	Mia Rousseau
Amin Djakliou	...	Lucas
Clara Abbasi	...	Jade
Li Jun Li	...	Nancy
Sharrieff Pugh	...	Ray
Peter McRobbie	...	L'agent bureau immigration

Storyline

Xavier is now forty years old. So are Wendy, Isabelle and Martine. At forty you are supposed to be more mature and live a a steadier life than at twenty. But not Xavier. Well, to be fair, he has made some progress in the field of thoughtfulness (he has even become a writer) but as concerns his everyday life, it is far from well-ordered. To be totally honest it is not entirely Xavier's fault if his wife Wendy has suddenly left him for a new companion in New York and taken their two children with her. Realizing he can't stand living without them, Xavier decides to settle down in Big Apple in order to remain close to them. He finds a home in Chinatown and it does not take long before trouble comes his way.

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Plot Keywords:

sham marriage | chinatown | frenchman abroad | marital separation | first person narration | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

France USA Belgium

Language:

French English Spanish Chinese Yiddish

Release Date:

16 May 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lo mejor de nuestras vidas

Filming Locations:

JC Studios, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,544, 16 May 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$335,430, 13 July 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Opposite Field Pictures, Belgacom, Ce Qui Me Meut Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (Dolby 5.1)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The last instalment of a trilogy written and directed by Cédric Klapisch, which follows the journey of Xavier from student to family man. The first chapter is the movie "L'auberge espagnole", released in 2002, and the second chapter is "Les poupées russes", released in 2005.

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Goofs

The immigration enforcement agency in the U.S. is referred to as the INS. However, the INS ceased to exist in 2003 when it was merged into the new Department of Homeland Security.

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Connections

References Dexter (2006)

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Soundtracks

If I Had My Way
Performed by Kraked Unit featuring Mike Ladd, Lyrics Born & Lateef
Label: Ce qui me meut / Believe Recordings
Copyright: Ce qui me meut, 2013

User Reviews

A witty charmer of a movie

Your partner leaves you after she found new love in a far away land. You want to be close to your children so you relocate and become prepared to take any crappy job and live in any type of shithole in order to get by. Sounds complicated?

In case the above is not an intricate enough, you become a sperm donor to help a same sex couple have a child.

In the midst of all this, an old flame comes into town but how can you think about romance? Then again why not? After all, our character does not lead a complicated life, he just...lives.

Incredibly witty with a mixture of European/American sense of humour, it provides a refreshing angle to life itself and how it keeps going with its ups and downs.