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:

Chinese Puzzle

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$23,544, 18 May 2014

Gross USA:

$338,523

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,968,297

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

Once We Were 2
Performed by Kraked Unit featuring Hugh Coltman
Label: Ce qui me meut / Believe Recordings
Copyright: Ce qui me meut, 2013

User Reviews

global generation

I haven't seen the two previous movies by the same director and actors preceding this one, but all by itself I loved this one. It is funny, witty, interesting and unusual. I understand the previous two movies portrayed the lives of characters at an earlier age. Now they are around 40 years of age, they are in NYC and they have different set of problems. I participated in a Q&A with the director at the end of the movie and I understand what he is trying to portray is a generation of people who are more mobile, who aren't afraid of mixing with different cultures, live in different countries, deal with the challenges presented by this new country. Movie has a very very positive, upbeat look at things. And it is very refreshing to have this positive outlook considering how many movies feeds of drama and difficulties almost to a degree, which makes them unrealistic. Life is not so bad and things don't go that bad in real life. You might get lucky at things. This movie has a positive, realistic look at life. I could easily relate to it. Loved it, highly recommend it. Especially if you want to laugh a bit and feel good about life. And there is nothing wrong with that.