Palais royal !

A great reinvention of the story of life and death of lady Diana Spencer. It takes place in imaginary French-speaking country of Western Europe. after the accidental death of the king his younger son has to take his place which makes his wife - a speech therapist Armelle, the potential queen. The current queen, francophone re-incarnation of Queen Elizabeth II (minus UGLY part), played by magnificent Catherine Deneuve, is not sure that this plain-looking awkward woman can bear the royal duties with dignity and clearly doesn't care about her. After series of misadventures, Armelle feels like she doesn't fit in the royal world and when she discovers her husband adultery, she decides to take revenge. She'll show them all who is the real queen of hearts! This comedy makes you laugh and cry. Catherine Deneuve looks stunning and parades in a real fashion show of outfits, wearing them with truly royal grace. The parallels with Lady Di story are in-your-face, but rather charming, because they are put in the continental French-speaking milieu.

Palais royal! is a fun little satire of royal courtly life loosely based on the tragic tale of Charles and Diana. Valérie Lemercier casts herself in the titular role of Armelle, the improbable and frumpy orthophonist wife of royal Prince Arnaud (Lambert Wilson) of some fictional generic Francophone European kingdom. Suddenly her father-in-law dies, and her brother-in-law Alban - Arnaud's elder - is rudely passed over for want of children, as required by the kingdom's fundamental laws. Arnaud becomes king regnant and Armelle queen consort, and much to her consternation their happy and privileged but marginal life gives way to the full and taxing burdens of official duties and, of course, nasty courtly intrigues. When she realizes just how close to home these intrigues hit, Armelle transforms almost overnight, subtly planting traps exposing the two-facedness of those around her (including her two-timing husband as well as the vicious Queen Mother incarnated by Catherine Deneuve), all the while endearing herself to the people.

As Guy Bellinger says, her antics are a bit vulgar in and of themselves and this tempers the satire somewhat. And her metamorphosis is just a bit rapid. Nevertheless, even with the vulgarity I think they've managed to capture - albeit somewhat unintentionally - the full spectrum of Lady Di's own flaws, antics and resentments in an analogous, less beautiful and less glamorous but every bit as much energetic leading lady. The interiors of the royal couple's living spaces did, I must opine, leave much to be desired: at some points I felt I was looking at a flyer for a new subdivision of North American McMansions. The substance was a bit thin aganst the backdrop of what I know about royal protocol and life in general, although I didn't see any one thing I would deem "inaccurate" - just perhaps a bit reductionist or incomplete.

It's entertaining, however, and worth seeing for the performances. If you don't sympathize with the characters despite their obvious flaws, though, it will be difficult to sit through to the end (which does, I feel, come a bit quick).

This is, of course, a comedy. So, let's talk funny: three testicles theme, the whole Deneuve character, the opening London sequence, personal trainer guy - very funny. The whole thing is a bit long, but quite enjoyable. I'm just wondering if they also ridicule the Belge (the only French-speaking continental people with royalty), as it goes along, but I don't know French enough to catch the nuances. One interesting quality - since it is a poke at the English, the humour is very held-back (not the usual French buffonade), easily the "English gentlemen"-like comic routine, perfectly in line with stuff like the "Stiff upper lip". I guess it is THE stylistic gimmick used here, apart from the obvious Diana satire, to our delight.

First of all, I am a huge fan of Valérie Lemercier! She's been entertaining us for nearly 20 years and she's still surprising us yet. "Palais Royal !" is her third work as a director, and it is the funniest. Her previous two efforts were good, but with this one, she proves herself as a great writer.

The storyline is very simple : After the King dies, her husband (played by the always classy Lambert Wilson) is destined to take the crown, and her to become part of a world she doesn't really know of. As you can see, the plot is very basic, but what shows Lemercier's cleverness is her ability to laugh at the clichés and the explore every little details of her characters. Her screenplay is full of subtle jokes and plays of words - some can regret that a few jokes are a bit... vulgar, but always very funny if you can understand the double meanings.

As for the actors, we have a royal cast here: Queen Catherine Deneuve (who's never been so funny), the sarcastic Michel Aumont and the hilarious Gilbert Melki, among others (all are very good). Last but not least, Valerie Lemercier shows us one more time she's a gifted actress by handling all the versatility of her character.

"Palais Royal !" is the best French comedy of the year !

Reviewer destinationssecretes sums it up well: vulgar and rogue. And pedestrian... Deneuve is excellent though. Lemercier can be pretty funny if directed well, that is obviously here, not by her own self...