Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)

Critics Consensus

A dryly comic, stylistically brave film.

86%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 59

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 2,840
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Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen) Photos

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Movie Info

The stories of two desperate characters turn out to share an important link in this drama from French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin. Nora (Emmanuelle Devos) is a woman in her mid-thirties who wants people to believe that her life is going just the way she wants. But a look below the surface shows this isn't quite the case; she's been divorced twice, her latest relationship is on the rocks, her ten-year-old son, Elias (Valentin Lelong), is becoming increasingly withdrawn, and her father (Maurice Garrel) is in poor health. When Nora learns that her father's digestive problems are actually cancer and he may only have a few days left to live, she desperately wants to turn to Ismael (Mathieu Amalric), her second husband. But Ismael is having a crisis of his own after a pattern of increasingly strange behavior has led him to an involuntary stay in a mental hospital.
  • Rating:
    NR
  • Genre:
    Art House & International, Comedy, Drama
  • Directed By:
    Arnaud Desplechin
  • Written By:
    Roger Bohbot, Arnaud Desplechin
  • In Theaters:
     limited
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Box Office:
    $150,626
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Wellspring

Cast

Emmanuelle Devos
as Nora Cotterelle
Mathieu Amalric
as Ismaël Vuillard
Catherine Deneuve
as Mme. Vasset
Maurice Garrel
as Louis Jenssens
Jean-Paul Roussillon
as Abel Vuillard
Nathalie Boutefeu
as Chloe Jenssens
Magalie Woch
as Arielle
Hippolyte Girardot
as Mr. Mamanne
Noémie Lvovsky
as Elizabeth
Elsa Woliaston
as Dr. Devereux
Geoffrey Carey
as Claude
Elsa Wolliaston
as Dr. Devereux, the psychoanalyst
Valentin Lelong
as Elias Cotterelle
Thierry Bosc
as Mr. Mader
Olivier Rabourdin
as Jean-Jacques
Olivier Borle
as Monitor
Didier Sauvegrain
as Surgeon
François Toumarkine
as Prospero
Miglen Mirtchev
as Caliban
Marc Bodnar
as Guard
Catherine Rouvel
as Monique
Jan Hammenecker
as Nicolas
Marie-Françoise Gonzales
as Nurse
Joachim Salinger
as Pierre
Daniel Cohen
as Gynecologist
Frédéric Epaud
as Town Hall Employee
Claude Phor
as Nutcase
Karim Belkhadra
as Psychiatric Intern
Gaëlle Dill
as Victorine
Shulamit Adar
as Mme. Seyvos
Marc Betton
as Léopold Virag
Gilles Cohen
as Simon
Francis Leplay
as Christian
Joël Dahan
as Author
Bernard Garnier
as Forensic Doctor
Rachid Hami
as Marcello
Marion Touitou
as Delphine
Yann Coridian
as Fidèle
Andree Tainsy
as Grandmother
Sarah Lefèvre
as Norah's Friend
Denis Falgoux
as Cop
Magali Woch
as Arielle, la "chinoise
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Critic Reviews for Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)

All Critics (59) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (8)

  • It adds up to more than the sum of its parts, but you may not realize it for a day or so.

    October 5, 2019 | Full Review…

    Jonathan Rosenbaum

    Chicago Reader
    Top Critic

  • Desplechin's big, bold, iconoclastic feature Rois et Reine is a disconcerting film that can turn your head at the oddest moments.

    June 30, 2006 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Kate Taylor

    Globe and Mail
    Top Critic

  • Funny, absurd, often mocking itself and always quoting cultural history.

    June 30, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

    Susan Walker

    Toronto Star
    Top Critic

  • While these characters' lives are melodramatic, individual scenes burst with kinetic energy from fast editing and an script that deftly underscores the destructive nature of male-female relationships.

    October 29, 2005 | Rating: A

    Bob Longino

    Atlanta Journal-Constitution
    Top Critic

  • There's a looseness to the camera work and storytelling that's appealingly breezy: This film feels, for better or worse, like real life.

    August 26, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4

    Moira MacDonald

    Seattle Times
    Top Critic

  • Kings and Queen, full of passion and humor, madness and grief, is close to a masterpiece.

    August 18, 2005 | Rating: 4/4

    Steven Rea

    Philadelphia Inquirer
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (59)

Audience Reviews for Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen)

  • Feb 27, 2013
    One of the many joys and sadnesses of this necessarily long film are the way in which characters motivations and true feelings are gradually revealed as the film progresses, so that what starts out as a relatively straightforward drama becomes more complex, emotive and absorbing. Two skilled lead performances and two very different, flawed characters (but who basically both want escape) are at the centre of this compelling, funny, moving and truthful piece of cinema.
    Daniel P Super Reviewer
  • Apr 11, 2010
    Pretty interesting return to the screen for Catherine Deneuve in an ensemble piece directed by Arnaud Desplechin. Not familiar with Desplechin's work in the past but this is a good introduction.
    John B Super Reviewer
  • Mar 27, 2010
    An interesting film to be sure, and definitely worth a watch. Mathieu Amalric delivers a winning performance that shines above all else. This french melodrama again shines the dark and hidden side of a slice of life; what appears normal isnt and what appears happy and full may be in fact empty and sad. No real winners or losers at film's end except the viewer who will appreciate this rather rich story that has alot of depth and truth.
    alan j Super Reviewer
  • Jun 19, 2005
    [font=Century Gothic]"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. [/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"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. [/font]
    Walter M Super Reviewer
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