"Kings and Queen" starts out with Nora(Emmanuelle Devos) introducing herself directly to the camera. She is 35, runs an art gallery and has a ten year old son, Elias, by her first husband. The first husband died while she was pregnant. Her second husband, Ismael(Mathieu Amalric), wants to be dead, too, at least
judging by the noose hanging over the chair in his apartment when the men in white coats come for him.(And I would like to say I was disappointed that they weren't carrying butterfly nets...Luckily for him, his psychiatriast is played by Catherine Deneuve.) Nora is about to marry husband number three in a couple of weeks. The latest model is unlike the first two - totally rich, responsible and quite boring. On a visit to Grenoble to visit her father and son, Nora learns that her father is dying and has very little time left. "Kings and Queen" is an intelligent, thoughtful movie about growing older, learning responsbility towards taking care of others and what family means. It also makes a point about how we all have an affect on everybody around us, even if we don't realize it. The performances by both Devos and Amalric are superb.
June 19, 2005
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