King of Hearts [DVD] [1967] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

 

 

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I first saw this film in Canada at a drive in movie and i loved it. I tell all my friends all about this movie but because no one has ever heared of it they think im nuts and have inmagined it. Its a great movie and it should be seen by everyone. Since seeing this movie i ask but just one question, WHO ARE THE REAL SANE PEOPLE OF THIS WORLD? Cant wait for it to be back in print. JET

One of my all-time favourite films which I have loved since I first saw it well over forty years ago. The best film by director Philippe de Broca whose previous hits included Cartouche and That Man From Rio, The King Of Hearts is more whimsical than those other films but just as charming and amusing in a very French way. Its anti-war message, so popular in the 1960s, is quite obvious but The King Of Hearts is much more than that. If nothing else, it can be enjoyed for its slightly surreal visual style and engaging performances.

Not a big hit in France when it was first released, The King Of Hearts soon acquired cult status in other parts of the world, running for years at one theatre in the United States. The premise is simple - in the dying days of World War One, the Germans are about to retreat from a small French town as the British approach. But before they go, the Germans mine the town to explode. The residents find out and run for their lives, leaving behind the forgotten inmates of the local insane asylum. The inmates get out and take over the town, each assuming a particular role ranging from prostitute to duke, and create their own little utopia, blissfully unaware of the war ranging around them. Hearing about the booby trap, the British colonel sends a lone soldier into the town to defuse the device. The lunatics mistakenly think he is one them and declare him to be their king.

The King Of Hearts is one of those films in which what happens is not always as important as the way it happens. There is a beautiful sequence in which, one by one, the inmates discover and adopt their new stations in life, the transformation of Micheline Presle from drudge to bordello madam being especially remarkable. Into this gentle madness stumbles Alan Bates as the unfortunate soldier tasked with finding and disarming the explosives. He is as reluctant a soldier as he is a king, yet he is the one who holds the film together. At first, he seems to be the only sane person in the story. But as the film progresses, the question of just what is insanity continually presents itself.

De Broca directs with his usual all-encompassing style, giving us comedy that ranges from wry smiles to broad slapstick, a few poignant moments, a touch of romanticism, and some broad military satire. The mood is helped immeasurably by a fantastic music score by Georges Delerue. But it is the performances that linger the longest in the memory and give the film its heart. It is a superb cast - Bates giving another first class portrayal in both French and English, the lovely innocence of Genevieve Bujold, the campiness of Michel Serrault, the sensuality of Micheline Presle, the elegant pairng of Jean-Claude Brialy and Francoise Christophe (the older I get, the more attractive she seems). The Italian actor Adolfo Celi plays the most unlikely of Scottish colonels (with a dubbed voice), in fact, the troops under his command are the most un-Scottish looking Scots imaginable, but that's all part of the fun of the film.

Much of The King Of Hearts was filmed in the well-preserved medieval town of Senlis (which still looks much the same) and this picturesque location adds much to the overall charm of the film. This was very much a film of its time, but that in no way lessens its appeal or enjoyment today.

Sadly, the DVD of The King Of Hearts has gone out of print and is difficult (and expensive) to find. With any luck, it will be re-issued sooner rather than later. It can be obtained from French Amazon but in a version without English subtitles so you will need to know your French. Otherwise, we shall just have to wait until someone wakes up and realises what a great film is in their vaults and that it is time to stop denying us the pleasure of seeing it.

From the very beginning this film draws you into the story with ease. A small town is occupied by the Nazis. The allies are about to liberate it so the Nazis boobytrap the town square, causing all the residents to flee. Our reluctant hero is sent in by the allies to find out more, only to discover the lunatic asylum is all that's left. What really makes this film stand out are the performances from the childlike lunatics taking over the town. There are quite a few bellylaughs in this film and it doesn't drag anywhere. Very pleasant film to pass the time.

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