ROIS ET REINE

(Kings and Queen)

directed by Arnaud Desplechin

(France 2004, o.v. French sub. ita) 

Nora Cotterelle, a woman in her 30s is caring for her ill father, Louis Jenssens.

While Nora tries to present a facade that all is well with her life, she is twice divorced and has a son, Elias, whose father is dead. Elias has behavior problems caused by autism. Nora’s present relationship is not going well, and she is soon to marry a businessman, while Elias is becoming increasingly withdrawn.

A parallel storyline follows her former lover and second husband, Ismaël Vuillard, a musician, with whom she had lived for seven years. He is given to strange behaviour, and as a result he has been committed to a mental hospital, from which he is planning to escape.