France, during World War I. Realizing that their city is facing a grave threat, the inhabitants flee in fright. Freed from their guardians, the inmates of an asylum invade the streets, returning to their former professions or pursuing their favorite hobbies. The lone British soldier sent to salvage the situation, supposedly an explosives expert, gets hailed as their long-awaited king...
"Le roi de coeur" is an anti-war movie on the "war is madness" theme. Sadly enough, it confuses and dilutes its own message by turning a number of the characters into comic buffoons, where these characters would have worked better as (relatively) sane and straight-thinking persons. Many of the soldiers and generals seem to have tumbled directly out of a clown car, which means that it's hard to see them as warriors evolving against a background of death and destruction. Consequently the viewer finds it difficult to imagine the events as a desperate battle over life-or-death stakes.
"Le roi" also tends to repeat the same kind of scenes, especially with regard to the inmates of the asylum. Madmen and madwomen dance, prance and caper around in colorful costumes ; they welcome their monarch, play with circus animals and applaud daring stunts. And that's it, basically. The cumulative effect isn't whimsical or poetic or unsettling, it's boring.
Still, the movie is not without merit. Some of the satire still bites : for instance, is crowning a complete stranger more irrational than crowning some sixteen-year-old nitwit just because he's the only surviving grandson of the last king ? And is serving as a courtier to an imaginary king more irrational than hanging on to an old gala uniform and wishing for the triumphant return of the shah/the czar/the emperor of Vietnam ? Besides, the stunt work is impressive and the setting is both beautiful and memorable. (Am I right in thinking that the movie was filmed in the storied city of Senlis ? A most noble sight !)
"Le roi de coeur" is an anti-war movie on the "war is madness" theme. Sadly enough, it confuses and dilutes its own message by turning a number of the characters into comic buffoons, where these characters would have worked better as (relatively) sane and straight-thinking persons. Many of the soldiers and generals seem to have tumbled directly out of a clown car, which means that it's hard to see them as warriors evolving against a background of death and destruction. Consequently the viewer finds it difficult to imagine the events as a desperate battle over life-or-death stakes.
"Le roi" also tends to repeat the same kind of scenes, especially with regard to the inmates of the asylum. Madmen and madwomen dance, prance and caper around in colorful costumes ; they welcome their monarch, play with circus animals and applaud daring stunts. And that's it, basically. The cumulative effect isn't whimsical or poetic or unsettling, it's boring.
Still, the movie is not without merit. Some of the satire still bites : for instance, is crowning a complete stranger more irrational than crowning some sixteen-year-old nitwit just because he's the only surviving grandson of the last king ? And is serving as a courtier to an imaginary king more irrational than hanging on to an old gala uniform and wishing for the triumphant return of the shah/the czar/the emperor of Vietnam ? Besides, the stunt work is impressive and the setting is both beautiful and memorable. (Am I right in thinking that the movie was filmed in the storied city of Senlis ? A most noble sight !)