Casse-tête chinois (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 Vegas (2012)

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Soundtracks

Itchin' For Your Love
(Afrodyete / Fabien Préaux)
Interprété Par Grant Phabao & Afrodyete & (P) 2013 T.I.M.E.C./ Paris DJs

User Reviews

Audrey Tautou's pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese is stunning

This film tells the story of a French man who moves to New York because his ex partner takes their two children there and remarry an American man.

The premise of the film is very interesting, as I haven't thought about how globalised we are. I've been taking weekend overseas breaks for granted, watching foreign films, listening to foreign songs, keeping on touch with foreign friends with much ease. And the film reminds us that life back then was not as complicated. The comedy aspect is done quite well, especially the immigration inspection scene which is quite funny. However, the film takes a long time to reach that comedy stage, and actually the first half of the film is rather boring. One thing I'm truly impressed by is Audrey Tautou's pronunciation of Mandarin Chinese. It's very clear that she took a lot of effort in learning the words, because she even got the tones of every character right!