Queen of Hearts

Release date: November, 2012
Production date: 2009
Distributed by: Film Movement
Directed by: Valerie Donzelli
Starring: Valerie Donzelli

The Movie

And here I thought girl-in-the-city movies had died out long ago but 2009's Queen of Hearts, starring writer/director Valerie Donzelli, is an interesting mash-up of styles to retell the familiar story of a screwy girl just looking for love.

The film opens with lots of little bad things happening to Adele (Donzelli), the most crucial of which is that her boyfriend, Mathieu (Jeremie Elkaim), leaves her. Comically exceptionally distraught a friend puts her in the care of a neighbor, Rachel (Beatrice De Stael). The older woman takes Adele in and lets her sleep on the floor but is distrustful and not understanding of her disheveled emotional state. But since Rachel doesn't want her in her apartment during the day while she's off at work the friend takes her to a nearby park to wait out the day. The friend gets an urgent call and has to leave, putting the now heavily-sedated Adele into the care of a young artist sitting nearby, Pierre (Elkaim). He's attentive but, when Adele awakes, he's clearly not a love interest for her.

So the pattern begins where Adele is at first fairly pathetic and depressed but, thanks to Rachel, gets a job as a babysitter for a co-worker of hers. This job goes well and gets Adele back on her feet to a certain extent but, as the occasional male VO states, she's only “half-alive” this way. Her life takes a turn when the husband, Jacques (Elkaim again), takes a sexual interest in her. They do it in his car one night while he's driving her home and she ends up sobbing - not over the moral dilemma but the fact that she achieved orgasm, something she had never accomplished with Mathieu.

Naturally, Jacques' wife finds out soon enough about this affair and fires Adele who keeps this a secret from Rachel. So Adele spends her days away from the apartment doing various things, one of which is meeting a Mathieu-lookalike named Paul (Elkaim, yet again) and falling instantly in love. They begin a desperate courtship of sorts via text message which to her seems new but to Rachel seems suspect and a bit removed from reality. He draws out her sexuality, blindfolding her in a park and making her masturbate and then escalating to a point where he wants her to have sex with another man but thinking of him while he's actually watching. She manically agrees and sets up a rendezvous with Pierre taking care of Jacques' baby, Jacques being the other-man, all in Rachel's apartment. Naturally, this comedic time-bomb blows up in her face, leaving her catatonic.

But her friends Rachel and Pierre don't give up on her but, instead, see that everything in life can somehow be fixed. They send her off to NYC and she settles in, eventually meeting Pierre there again (now played by a different actor, Etienne Kerber) and seeing him for the opportunity he really presents for her.

Audio/Video/Extras

This DVD from Film Movement comes visually in a 1.33:1 ratio which serves the character-driven rom/com here quite well. Even though the visual style of the movie feels a bit like it was shot on video with some very grainy scenes they're never too grainy or to the point of distraction. The light and color balance here are handled very capably. Likewise, the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack supports the film nicely, especially during the song numbers that Adele performs in key emotional scenes in the film. The film itself is in French with a little bit of Spanish and so English subtitles are available and are very clear and easy to read.

Apart from the standard Film Movement DVD includes of director bio, original trailer and trailers for other Film Movement offerings the short film included this time around is from the UK, titled Luis and Marta Work Together by Alos Di Leo. It's an amusing little film about a male and female co-worker where, while working together, Luis (Fabiano de Souza Ramos) admits he had a sort of sexual dream about Marta (Rita Revez). She's entertained by the prospect but instantly reads his romantic paranoia and desire. They're both in relationships with other people currently so in order to set things right, Marta suggests the only thing they can do is continue their work this night together fully naked. Luis is a typical goofy male, overwhelmed by such a confident and sexual female. The actors, especially Revez, handle it all with good cheer and aplomb in this :11 min. short.

Summary

Proving that even crazy girls need love, too, Donzelli's story purports that time and space are needed to help heal relationships and to focus on the best parts of them. Rather than just finding another man to make her sane/happy Adele has to just take a deep breath emotionally with the help of some good friends instead. It's a strikingly positive message of romantic empowerment, told with a unique visual style and production.