Meu Rei

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.

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I've already written about chemistry between Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni in The Family Man and between Rebecca Hall and Jason Sudeikis in Tumbledown. But chemistry between Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Bercot surpasses everything I've ever seen. In all ups and downs love brings, two of them were able to maintain the same connection throughout the entire movie.

So far, I've seen Vincent Cassel starring in Irreversible and playing Jacques Mesrine in L'ennemi public n°1; two great movies. But his performance in Mon Roi is better than those two - maybe the single greatest performance I've ever seen. His delivery was amazingly realistic - like he didn't even act but acted like in everyday normal life. After seeing Mon Roi Vincent Cassel became Georgio Milevski for me.

Georgio Milevski initially appeared to me as an adulterous, drug using psycho. Nothing more. Maybe charming and funny psycho and hence a dangerous psycho. But as I continued to watch the movie I couldn't help myself not to feel some sympathy for him. Maybe there was something frank and loving about him. Maybe he's loving at the core of his heart which has been ruined by addictions. My reason told me there was nothing good about him but my heart told me a different story - that in which Georgio sincerely struggles to overcome what he had become for the sake of his partner. I'm still not sure who he really is and that makes me uncomfortable because the same feeling must have gone through Tony's head. That ignorance may be the reason she allowed herself to submit to him. I think this attitude lies at the very heart of "can't live with, can't live without" relationships. That's why this impersonation may be the best I've ever seen - it made me feel disturbed and angry but sensible as well since there just is something mysterious about Georgio.

Emmanuelle Bercot played Tony - deeply committed but deeply inside broken women who tolerates more than she should. After seeing Tony's struggles I asked myself again a question which begets a decent answer: why do we remain committed to relationships which bring only pain and misery? Is that love? Can love be destructive towards yourself? No. It's addiction which makes us stick to destructive relationships. Georgio and Tony are somehow very alike: he's addicted to drug and partying but Tony's addicted to him. They're both addicts struggling to quit - Georgio taking drugs and Tony dating Georgio.

The way I interpreted a relationship between Tony's physical rehab and her reminiscence of a relationship is the following: her physical rehab is just a vivid analogy of her psychical rehab; the same way she has to treat her knee in order to be repaired is the way she has to treat her heart. With patience, tenderness and help of other loving people.

In conclusion: this is a type of movie which may touch you deeply if you were ever involved in tumultuous relationship. You may find looking at your past or present relationship as a third person since Mon roi may bring forth some memories.

If people do not repair their inner defects, do not rationally observe and manage their own behavior pattern, just follow the instinct to make choices, a lot of times will make the decision to drink poison to quench thirst, and continue to repeat the mistakes, until there is no retreat. Fix yourself. Identify the right people. Do the right thing. These three things may not be done in a lifetime for many people.

'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'.

It's interesting that a lot of people in reviews find this movie dedicated to love and difficulties that couples go through in a marriage while psychologies say it's a great movie about a narcissist and his victim. A very representative movie, I say, and definitely not for everyone.