King of Hearts

I saw King of Hearts on its original release when I was 15. For 35 years it has remained one of my favourite movies; perhaps the number one. Nothing in particular about the film so qualifies it. I like quite a number of "better" films, but KOH touched me in a way that stuck. It is an authentic movie; the reality is as simple as the english speaking english, the french french, and the germans german. The crazy people are sane, the sane people crazy. It is funny and tragic and perhaps a little too quirky but ... if you haven't tried it on you should.

A charming film, first, for the contained naked truth. Second, for status of reflection in mirror of near reality, in too many senses. Not the last, for acting and the veil of innocence and cold / precise perspective about life, freedom, expectations, fears , joy in pure state. A film deserving to be loved and seen often. As a sort of cure. So, Alan Baits and Genevieve Bujold. And the others. A cold perspective, seeming a kind of verdict, about reality and its large illusions.

It's World War I, and a Scottish Private named Plumpick (Alan Bates) is ordered to infiltrate a French village and stop a bomb that the Germans have planted from going off. Upon arriving, Plumpick discovers the entire village deserted, except for the patients of the local insane asylum, who have been left behind. The patients soon escape the asylum, play dress-up with the various clothes they find lying around the village, and take it over. Not only this, but they crown Plumpick their king! With the German army still in the vicinity nearby, Plumpick must find the bomb, diffuse it, and save his "subjects" from certain death....

An all-time foreign film classic, "Le Roi De Coeur," aka "King Of Hearts," is a marvelous movie, full of sweetness, charm, and both clever comedy & fine drama that also comments very well on the stupidity of war. Alan Bates, who sadly passed away recently, is simply wonderful as Private Plumpick, as is the lovely Genevieve Bujold as the young patient named Poppy that Plumpick falls for, and Adolfo Celi is quite funny as Plumpick's stuffy superior officer. The rest of the film's big ensemble cast, whether playing the asylum patients or various soldiers, are all excellent, too.

The only thing that stops "King Of Hearts" from being perfect is that it *could* very well be argued that the insane asylum patients in this movie aren't...well, *insane* enough. They may speak strangely to one another or to Private Plumpick, but, for the most part, they act & behave quite coherently. But other than that, "King Of Hearts" is a very charming foreign film, and one of the very best films of the late, great Alan Bates. Definitely seek this one out.

My mother had seen King of Hearts years ago, when she was in college. When I was about seven or eight (a few years ago, she rented the movie. Most of the movie is in French and it had subtitles, so even though I could just barely understand what was being said, I had a wonderful understanding of what was going on. It's the type of movie where what's on screen is enough to let a person get a gist of the scene. When I first saw the movie, I remembered how lovely the music was, how I grew to love the "crazy" people from the asylum, and how beautiful the movie was. When my mom bought the movie, we watched it constantly. I still watch it at least once a month. It's one of my favorite movies. I really do love the music. For me, it simulates fun insanity. I love every single aspect of King of Hearts. If you ever have a chance to see it, then go! Go see King of Hearts!

A timeless and exquisite treatment of profound and compelling issues, this 1966 International collaboration, was one of the few films ever to give tasteful testimony to being truly sane, or maybe I should say being truly (in)sane in a cruel and berserk world. If you liked Life Is Beautiful, E.T., Star Wars, The Great Dictator, Gandhi, Henry V, Blazing Saddles, or Rain Man... you will probably love this movie. It remains for me among the top three or four, of all movies I have ever seen.