My King (2016)

not as good as all the hype

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Great French movie.Tony: "You know you can't make me happy. Me neither. I didn't make you happy. Let's stop this charade!"Beautifully acted. But the realism makes a tough watch.

I knew it was a romance film, but totally unexpected what I just saw. It was different, that's all, other than that there are many similar films that were already made. The film's focus was not the characters, but the phases and the pace of a romance. The love at the beginning and the same love at some time in the latter. The differences what the film highlights. But it's impossible without the characters and their perspectives. So, from the beginning to the end, how a romance can evolve, how it influences other around, all the fun, crazy stuffs, is the film.The film was partially inspired by the director's own married life. Nice casting and performances. I felt like there was no depth in narration. Depth means, you can't understand the characters fully. Everything it lets you know are the events from where the film begins. So basically it is all about the romance and nothing else. Not even their professions, or the friends and any side incidents, except those topics were used in places in a small quantity to fill the void and make a clean flow of the story. The whole two hours is like about an insane romance. Again, that part divides into two, the first half of the film and the next half.In the first half, it's all about the initiation. Girl meets boy, instantly fall in love with each other and do crazy things to build the character. It seems like any romantic film, but it all necessarily designed to manage what follows in the later part. Apart from the two who are well positioned from their professional level, it looked kind of like a rich guy meets an economically average girl. Then entering his world, and beginning to taste the royal lifestyle, as well as a sweet romance. The story was mainly told from the woman's perspective. The narration had double layer, going back and returning to present, the two timeline story was revealed to us.❝I prefer not to be in love and not get hurt.❞The woman seems intentionally met with an accident in the opening, and she begins to remember her recent past. Her unexpected crazy romance with a rich playboy. While recovering from the knee injury, she makes some friends and they all help each other to come out of their struggle. On the other side of the narration, revealed everything she went through. Not just a happy love story, but struggles over the time pass by. Having a child, being parents, the life drastically changes for both of them. Yet their love and care for each other remains somewhere in the deep of their hearts. Then there is a life, every moment is unpredictable. So how it ends was not that I surprised, because of its realistic.At one point, I thought it could be the French 'The Notebook'. It did not have emotional end. I'm not saying about sad or happy ending, but the film was honest to the real world. How the second half turned out was the excellent twist in the narration, but done with slowly. This was about the people in their late 30s or 40s. That makes the film is mainly for middled aged people. Otherwise, if the characters and their generation were brought down to like the 20s, the film would have been totally another level. And would have had a more target audience. That's what most of the Hollywood films focus on these days.The same film in Hollywood would have been one of the frontrunner for the Oscars. The performances were really great. Particularly Emmanuelle Bercot was awesome. As usual, Vincent Cassel showed his class, proved why he's one of the top stars in France. I thought two hours was a bit long, but the writing was good, they had filled the film nicely with the events that helped further to grow stronger in the following scenes.Despite I consider it a nice film, I don't think everybody would enjoy. They might like it at the end, enjoy watching is not that comes along. Because it is not an entertainment film, nor an art. As I said before, realistic about the relationship and its maturity in the modern world. The other options for the relationship, despite putting all the efforts to save it like people did in the previous century. So, all I say is choose it wisely.7/10

Tony is recovering from a leg trauma in a rehabilitation centre on the border of the sea. But the real trauma is in her soul. Reflecting on what brought her to this point in her life she is remembering the affair with handsome and unpredictable Georgio, and their turbulent relationship over the last ten years. It brought her happiness but also a lot of pain. How soon will she be back on her feet again? Will she ever?If you like dramatic love stories you may instantly recognize the premise of the film, it had been used hundreds of times. A heroine going down the memory lane to figure out what had gone wrong. There's one thing, however, that makes MY KING to stand out – it is a very honest film with a very real, raw feel to every scene, performance and dialogue. The very intelligent but plain looking Tony seems like an odd match to charismatic and larger than life Georgio, however the sparks that are flying on screen cannot be ignored. Their affair and their relationship are believable and over the course of the film you will learn them as intimately as if they were your close friends.There are a lot of jokes, but also a lot of sadness in the film. The film's episodic structure may be a turn off for many, but there is a feeling that the director is always in control, leading the story the right way and fixing things as soon as the narrative begin to stumble a little.Instead of focusing on the fantastic performances from Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Bercot, I want to say a few words about Louis Garrel. He is only in a supporting role of Tony's younger brother, however his presence adds realism to the story and a much needed comic relief. He is one of those actors who make anything he is in a little better.MY KING gives us a very unusual relationship, but highlights the problems everyone can identify with. Without preaching or judgement this is an honest portrait of a marriage and love and everything else that comes with it.FOR MORE FRENCH FILM REVIEWS PLEASE VISIT MY WEBSITE:http://pashasfilms.blogspot.com.au/

'Mon Roi' (the film has no international title yet,) is the 4th film by Maïwenn (Le Besco). For years she was known as the girlfriend/wife of Luc Besson. The fact that they had a child when she was hardly 17 years old was spread out over many a tabloid. After her child acting years and break-up with Besson she turned away from acting for some time before returning with a vengeance in the director's chair. As her last 2 films were part of the main selection of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival -which in both cases won a prize- she has made quite a name for herself (in recent years she usually drops her last name Le Besco).Her three previous films feature a protagonist using (or hiding behind?) a camera. A documentary camera for the semi- autobiographical 'Pardonnez-moi' (2006) (Forgive Me) and 'Le bal des actrices' (2009) (All About Actresses), a photo camera for 'Polisse' (2011) (Prix du jury). No hiding in this film though, emotions are running amok. The film starts with a skiing accident of the main character Tony (short for Marie-Antoinette) played by Emmanuelle Bercot. It's not exactly clear if it really was an accident or a form of deliberate self harming. A bit in the vein of the famous opening scene of 'Lawrence of Arabia' where it's not exactly clear if the main character had an accident or was committing suicide.After this opening the movie switches between flashbacks of the meeting and falling in love of Tony and Georgio ( a truly fantastic Vincent Cassel) and scenes of Tony in a rehabilitation center, where her knee injury is being treated. We see Tony being knocked of her socks by the extreme charm and sharp wit of Georgio. There's a nice scene were Georgio is getting rid of Tony's sexual insecurity, caused by an insulting remark of a former boyfriend towards the end of a previous relationship, in no time with a few casual funny comments.The film's beginning suggests that the good times won't go on forever. At certain stages of the film a former girlfriend shows up, gradually showing the destructive force Georgio has on women. Whatever happens -being caught in bed with another woman, drug use, financial difficulties- Georgio always charms his way out of it. When Tony does react it's usually in front of their friends through extreme emotional outbursts which only seems to lead to more sympathy towards Georgio. And even though she knows their relationship is not healthy she somehow cannot get herself to truly leave Georgio. No wonder 'Rien ne sert de courir' ('No use in running away') happened to be the working title.Juxtaposing the rise and fall of a relationship with the physical rehabilitation is slowly but truly suggesting the physical injuries sustained are a desperate cry-out caused by the emotional stress of the marriage. Will Tony ever be able to once and for all get out from under the spell of Georgio?Emmanuelle Bercot had quite the festival, she directed to opening film 'La tête haute' (Standing Tall) and won the best acting prize. It would have been nice if she could have shared it with Cassel as he perhaps delivers the finest performance of his career to date. The way he keeps his character remain charming despite his often despicable actions make the unlikely indecision of the Tony character all the more believable. Only the scenes featuring Tony as a lawyer do not have enough credibility. Please visit my site 'bttcinema.com'.