Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen) (2005)
86%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: 9 wins & 18 nominations
Kings and Queen is a cinematic masterpiece that deftly explores the complexities of human relationships, madness, and the philosophical dilemmas of family ties. Desplechin’s brilliant direction and storytelling create a film that is both funny and absurd, while also being deeply moving and thought-provoking. The characters’ lives may be melodramatic, but the fast editing and kinetic energy of individual scenes make them feel like real people. With a looseness to the camera work and storytelling that is appealingly breezy, Kings and Queen is a treat from start to finish, and a must-see for any cinephile looking for a film that is both intelligent and entertaining.
Kings and Queen is a movie that’s like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get. It’s a mix of madness, humor, and drama that will leave you feeling a little confused but also satisfied. The characters are complex and the storytelling is unconventional, but that’s what makes it so interesting. It’s not a movie for everyone, but if you’re willing to take a chance, you might just find yourself pleasantly surprised.
Production Company(ies)
Hollywood Pictures,
Distributor
Wellspring Media
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Grenoble, Isère, France
MPAA / Certificate
Unrated
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:2h 30m
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Language(s):French, English, German
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 3, 2004 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 15, 2005
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Catherine Deneuve, Maurice Garrel, Nathalie Boutefeu, Jean-Paul Roussillon, directed by Arnaud Desplechin, written by Roger Bohbot, Arnaud Desplechin, Comedy, Drama, box office gross $289.6K, reviewed by Jonathan Rosenbaum, Kate Taylor, Susan Walker, Bob Longino, Moira MacDonald, Steven Rea, Yasser Medina, Tony McKibbin, Dorothy Woodend, Jay Antani, Anton Bitel, MPAA rating N/A, produced by Pascal Caucheteux
Worldwide gross: $3,839,556
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,056,847
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,117
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 660,507
US/Canada gross: $290,973
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $459,006
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,347
US/Canada opening weekend: $16,101
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $25,399
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,428
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Mathieu Amalric – Ismaël Vuillard
Catherine Deneuve – Mme Vasset
Maurice Garrel – Louis Jenssens
Nathalie Boutefeu – Chloé Jenssens
Jean-Paul Roussillon – Abel Vuillard
Director(s)
Arnaud Desplechin
Writer(s)
Roger Bohbot, Arnaud Desplechin
Producer(s)
Pascal Caucheteux
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
9 wins & 18 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (52) | 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
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
Kate Taylor
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
Funny, absurd, often mocking itself and always quoting cultural history.
June 30, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
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
A very bittersweet film about the traps of loneliness, the difficulties of marital relationships and the philosophical dilemmas of family ties. [Full review in Spanish]
August 6, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
Desplechin’s brilliant new effort is not so much a film about mad people, but one, perhaps like [Lars von Trier’s] The Idiots, with a madness running through it… A treat from start to finish.
April 24, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Tony McKibbin
The List
A willing victim, a godlike father, the collusion between the two and from this perversion comes deep and unsettling woes — it’s an odd concoction, one part hemlock to two parts froth. But I think I’ve seen it all before, and before and before.
August 24, 2017
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
A highly unstable compound of melodrama and offbeat comedy that elicits more shrugs of confusion than sighs of satisfaction
August 17, 2010 | Rating: 2/4
Jay Antani
Cinema Writer
a complex, character-driven film that never allows its themes – madness, love, coming of age – to become reducible to pat formulae, or over-sentimentalisation.
July 10, 2007
Anton Bitel
Eye for Film
Its novelistic breadth, pitched intensity and on-the-fly shooting style pull the viewer smack-dab into the middle of these lives.
March 1, 2007
Erica Abeel
Film Journal International…
Plot
Nora, an art gallery director, travels to Grenoble to visit her son and reaches out to her former lover, Ismael, who has been committed to a mental hospital against his will, while dealing with her aging father’s terminal cancer diagnosis in the comedy-drama film Kings and Queen.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Catherine Deneuve in a supporting role as Ismael’s psychiatrist.
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