In recent years, Europe has learned to make truly interesting films, which can compete with American "fairy tales" not only at prestigious film festivals, but also in cinemas. The picture "My King" is a clear confirmation of this. Despite the absence of a happy end, vivid special effects and actors with Hollywood smiles and seven-figure fees, each review of the film “My King”, even negative, notes the amazing atmosphere of the film, which the director and the main actors managed to create.
The film "My King"
In 2015 (in the CIS in early 2016), the French drama Mon Roi (My King) was released. Her script was written on the basis of the memoirs of the director of the picture, Mayvenn Le Besco, about her marriage to the publisher Jean-Yves Le Fure. The main roles were played by Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Berco. The tape was nominated for many film awards, but won only the award of the Cannes Film Festival.
Positive reviews and reviews of the movie “My King” by most critics and viewers helped the film raise $ 9.5 million at the box office with a budget of 6.7 million. Although by Hollywood standards this is a small amount, for Europe and the CIS it is a very good profit.
Plot
At the beginning of the picture, the main character, a middle-aged woman named Tony, seriously injures her knee while skiing. To recover, she goes to a rehabilitation center. The psychologist advises her to deal with her psychological problems. While recovering health, the woman recalls the details of living together with her ex-husband Giorgio Milevsky.
Tony and Giorgio met at a nightclub. The woman could not remember how she knew his face. Trying to find out, young people get to know each other better, and soon an affair begins between them.
Immediately after the first sex, Giorgio confesses love to a woman, which puzzles her. After all, his new girlfriend knows that before her, he often met with models, and Tony's appearance is rather plain-looking. Despite all the fears, the woman soon falls in love with this charming and unpredictable king of bastards.
Together with his lover, Tony experiences many pleasant moments, and when she became pregnant, Giorgio is in the seventh heaven with happiness and marries her.
However, family life is not like a fairy tale. Former girlfriend of Giorgio - long-legged beauty Agnes - does not abandon attempts to return him. Having learned about the pregnancy of his wife, she is trying to commit suicide. The newly-made spouse feels responsible for the fate of the former and takes care of her. The girl actively abuses this and calls Giorgio whenever she pleases.
Tony does not like such care about the former. She often makes scandals and even plans to leave her husband, but in anticipation of the birth of the baby, the life of the spouses is getting better.
After the birth of the son of Sinbad, for some time in the Milewski family, everything was fine. However, Giorgio gradually begins to absent himself at parties with friends. After another Tony finds him in bed with another woman. Her husband assures her that there was no sex, because he was stoned and simply fell asleep next to a stranger. Her husband's addiction to drugs is becoming an unpleasant discovery for Tony. She puts before Giorgio an ultimatum: either he is being treated and tying up with his adventures, or they are getting divorced.
Giorgio promises to improve and returns to his family, but soon problems begin again in family life, and Tony files for divorce.
Over the next years, Giorgio sometimes comes to his ex-wife and son, gives them a real celebration, and then disappears again for a long time. Tony realizes that you can’t live like that, but she does not have the courage to abandon her beloved man, who is like a drug for her.
At the end of the picture, the woman leaves the rehabilitation center, recovering almost completely. The next time Tony meets with Giorgio at the school where their son is studying. Both of them were called here to please the successes of Sinbad. Watching the ex-husband, the heroine realizes that, although she loves him, she is ready to start a new life separately.
The issue of films
In this picture, Mayvenn Le Besco tells the audience about the many problems that people face when entering into a relationship.
Most love tapes end at the wedding stage, and then it is understood that the spouses should have a fabulous life. However, in “My King” it is shown that the problems in relations with the wedding are just beginning. After all, having become one family, spouses stop “wearing masks”, as they did before the wedding. Now they relax and show their true face. This happened with Tony and Giorgio. Only after she married and gave birth to a baby, the main character could see the real face of her king of bastards.
The painting also masterfully shows that problems in relationships are not only the fault of the windy Giorgio. Tony also behaves quite selfishly. She not only requires her lover to tie her old way of life, but also puts pressure on him, trying to change his nature, not realizing that she really loves in him precisely that unpredictable bastard.
Another problem raised in the film: is love enough for a family to be strong? Mayvenn Le Besco unequivocally answers: no! Her characters passionately and desperately love each other, but their characters are different, and they see their future differently. Because of this, even making concessions, Giorgio and Toni can not build a normal family life.
And the most important lesson that the painting “My King” teaches to the audience is the need to let go. Each of the main characters is not morally ready to let the other go. For this reason, Giorgio always returns to her beloved, preventing her from becoming happy with someone else. In turn, Tony never allows him to truly leave, addicted to the returns of his beloved, as a drug that allows her to feel a real fullness of life. Only at the end of the tape, after going through a lot of difficulties and emotions, do the heroes accept the fact that, despite strong love and a common child, they simply are not able to be together.
Actors and film roles “My King”
While working on the tape, the director deliberately chose the main roles of performers with the usual appearance, so that the audience saw themselves in them. So, the main female role went to the Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Berco ("Loner", "Girls", "Wild Camp"). This woman became famous in her homeland primarily as a director, and only then as an actress.
The charming bastard king Giorgio played the sex symbol of modern French cinema - Vincent Cassel. It is noteworthy that the actor himself considered his character near-minded, which did not prevent him from perfectly getting used to this image.
Minor roles in the film starred Louis Garrell (The Beautiful Fig Tree, Beloved Ones), Isild Le Besco (Marquis de Sade, Roberto Zucco) and young Felix Bossuet (Eternity, Chocolate).
My King: Critics Movie Reviews
This tape has been greeted positively by most film critics around the world. However, the French praised the picture in order to support domestic cinema. American critics left positive reviews about the movie "My King" because they really liked it. So, on the Rotten Tomatoes website the number of praise was 75%, with an average rating of 6.7 out of 10. On Metacritic, the tape received fewer positive reviews - 64%, but this is also a very good indicator, considering that the picture is not American, it’s also shot in French.
On domestic sites, reviews of the movie "My King" are also pretty good. On MY-HIT, the tape collected 77.2% of positive feedback. Baskino users gave her a rating of 7.24 out of 10 possible.
Spectacular reviews of the movie "My King" (2015)
Despite the fact that this picture belongs to the category of elite cinema intended for aesthetes and film festivals, ordinary viewers liked it as well.
To be honest, this film is definitely female. Therefore, it is the beautiful half of the audience that mainly leaves reviews about the movie "My King." Some of them praise the game of Vincent Cassel, who, despite his very modest external data, manages to captivate all the spectators, regardless of age and marital status. Others sympathize with Tony and praise the acting skills of Emmanuelle Berco.
It is noteworthy that even those who categorically did not like the tape, note its pleasant tone and the operator’s skillful work. The highlight of "My King" viewers consider the touching music of Stephen Warbeck, which sounds in the picture.
About the film Mayvenn Le Besco, viewers around the world have left mostly positive reviews and reviews. The film "My King" (2015) confirmed the current view that modern moviegoers are tired of sugary love stories and want to watch more realistic pictures. At the same time, they want life stories portrayed in such films to be shown in major tones, leaving behind a bright melancholy, and not a sense of hopelessness.