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Chicken with Plums

Original title: Poulet aux prunes
  • 2011
  • PG-13
  • 1h 33m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
10K
YOUR RATING
Chicken with Plums (2011)
Watch Bande-annonce [OV]
Play trailer1:55
6 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDrama

Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to ... Read allSince his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to confine himself to bed to await death.Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to confine himself to bed to await death.

  • Directors
    • Vincent Paronnaud
    • Marjane Satrapi
  • Writers
    • Marjane Satrapi
    • Vincent Paronnaud
  • Stars
    • Mathieu Amalric
    • Edouard Baer
    • Maria de Medeiros
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    10K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Vincent Paronnaud
      • Marjane Satrapi
    • Writers
      • Marjane Satrapi
      • Vincent Paronnaud
    • Stars
      • Mathieu Amalric
      • Edouard Baer
      • Maria de Medeiros
    • 17User reviews
    • 133Critic reviews
    • 69Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 8 nominations total

    Videos6

    Bande-annonce [OV]
    Trailer 1:55
    Bande-annonce [OV]
    Theatrical Version
    Trailer 1:59
    Theatrical Version
    Theatrical Version
    Trailer 1:59
    Theatrical Version
    "Violins"
    Clip 1:05
    "Violins"
    "Nasser Ali Sees Iran"
    Clip 0:32
    "Nasser Ali Sees Iran"
    Chicken With Plums: I Don't Love This Girl
    Clip 1:02
    Chicken With Plums: I Don't Love This Girl
    Chicken With Plums: Excellent Choice
    Clip 0:46
    Chicken With Plums: Excellent Choice

    Photos146

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 142
    View Poster

    Top cast36

    Edit
    Mathieu Amalric
    Mathieu Amalric
    • Nasser-Ali Khan
    Edouard Baer
    Edouard Baer
    • Azraël
    Maria de Medeiros
    Maria de Medeiros
    • Faringuisse
    Golshifteh Farahani
    Golshifteh Farahani
    • Irâne
    Éric Caravaca
    Éric Caravaca
    • Abdi
    Chiara Mastroianni
    Chiara Mastroianni
    • Lili, adulte
    Mathis Bour
    • Cyrus
    Enna Balland
    • Lili
    Didier Flamand
    Didier Flamand
    • Le maître de musique
    Serge Avedikian
    • Le père d'Irâne
    Rona Hartner
    Rona Hartner
    • Soudabeh
    Jamel Debbouze
    Jamel Debbouze
    • Houshang…
    Isabella Rossellini
    Isabella Rossellini
    • Parvine
    Frédéric Saurel
    • Mirza
    • (as Fred Saurel)
    Christian Friedel
    Christian Friedel
    • Cyrus, 22 ans
    Julia Goldstern
    • Nancy
    Julia Camps y Salat
    • Faringuisse enfant
    • (as Julia Camps Y Salat)
    Jaouen Gouevic
    • Le petit-fils d'Irâne
    • Directors
      • Vincent Paronnaud
      • Marjane Satrapi
    • Writers
      • Marjane Satrapi
      • Vincent Paronnaud
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews17

    7.010.2K
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    Featured reviews

    8brchthethird

    Dark subject matter leavened with fantastic visuals

    From the creators of PERSEPOLIS comes the tale of a man who loses all hope and decides to die after his favorite violin is destroyed. That might sound odd, but of course it is a gross oversimplification of what goes on in CHICKEN WITH PLUMS. The central character, Nasser Ali (Matthieu Amalric), does indeed lose his precious violin, but its significance is revealed is multiple flashback sequences which give him background, motivation and depth. I don't really want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that the end result is rather poetic and touching. From a visual standpoint, it continues from the same place that PERSEPOLIS came from, while imbuing it with lots of color and fantastic elements. The film feels like a fairy tale at times, with a sense of whimsy and free-flowing creativity that flies in the face of rather depressing subject matter. Matthieu Amalric does a standup job as Nasser Ali, bringing a certain world-weariness to his character as well as youthful optimism in the flashback scenes. Ultimately, by the end of the film you understand why Nasser has chosen to just give up (although I don't condone suicide). Thematically, I think the film works on a couple of levels. First, there is the surface story which is about losing hope and one's raison d'etre. However, with a character named "Iran," I also think that there is a subtle political allegory as well. The film takes place in the 1950's and references are made visually and through dialogue to indicate that Marjane Satrapi is making commentary on this particular period of Iranian history. She also takes some potshots at America that I thought were slightly uncalled for, although no less funny in the context of the film. My only real issues with the film are that the supporting characters are mostly sidelined and/or underwritten, and the narrative structure lends itself to being a little episodic at times. That being said, though, I was quite pleased with the end result and emotionally invested the whole way. Overall, CHICKEN WITH PLUMS is a delightful cinematic confection from Marjane Satrapi about her native Iran. The subject matter is kind of depressing, but plenty of visual sugar (along with some emotional heft) helps the medicine go down smoothly.
    9RodMorgan

    A Treasure

    Other reviews cause me to cry out in protest as I found "Chicken with Plums" captivating in a way few films have touched me. I would urge anyone reading these words to seek it out for themselves (I found it on "starz" and hope they will continue to show it).

    The storytelling is tantalizingly deliberate; one might even say that the early sequences are almost misleading their matter-of-fact tone. But the artistic team - and a martini-dry performance by Mathieu Amalric as our harried hero - continue unwrapping the narrative in a startlingly casual fashion, the tale becomes richer and more daring with every turn.

    Persian tales begin, "There was someone, there was no one." See for yourself whether you find Nasser Ali someone to remember in this artful Persian story.
    4ek-hlewagastir

    A nicely wrapped empty box

    I loved Persepolis both as a graphic novel and as a film. So I was looking forward to Satrapi's new work. I had neither read the graphic novel nor much about the film before watching, which I now regret because this film has little or nothing to do with its predecessor. First of all, it is no animation film and Satrapi's beautiful artwork is limited to the opening titles and to a tale told by the Angel of Death towards the end of the film. The whole cast is French, they speak French and both look and behave like French and, except when it comes to the characters' names, one has to do a big effort to keep in mind that the story is supposed to take place in Teheran. It might be a meaningless detail to some, but for me it was a disturbing discrepancy. The whole film has a superb photography and every scene is carefully manufactured (i.e. manipulated in post-production) into something that indeed looks like a powerful work of art. But inside this nicely wrapped box, I find really little that makes this film worth watching. It's not a film for children: I wouldn't want to tell my children the story of a man who decides to let himself die showing total disrespect for both his wife and children. But as a grown-up, I am really missing something, that something that I did find in the autobiography of a little girl growing up away from a country which has ceased to exist. Chicken with plums is a sort of disturbing bedtime story about a man who lost the joy of living, carefully wrapped up in some sort of misty reverie, nothing more than that. Still, it is probably supposed to be a comedy, and that adds a little sugar to the pill that you'll have to swallow if you decide to watch this. I feel a big disappointment. Just like that plate of smoking-hot chicken with plums which is left untouched on the table by the protagonist.
    9Chelsea-Guy

    Chicken with Plums - A Fabulous Fable -

    This is a brilliant film composed of wit, romance and all the art and style that makes film enjoyable. With set pieces, animation and fabulous actors the directors have created a unique and memorable fable. The visuals are magical and some satirical, all dressed in a vision of charm and enveloped with the romance of music. Romance and Art are at the core of this film, it speaks of the soul of an artist and true love. Set in old Terhran the story is told with culture and warmth. It is an inspiration laced with humor, charm, beauty and at last love. This tale is universal and will touch more than one heart. "Chicken with Plums" is the best I've seen this year and a must see if you love film.
    9zetes

    Extraordinarily beautiful and moving

    A live action film from the directors of Persepolis. Like Persepolis, it's based on a graphic novel written by Marjane Satrapi. It's nice to see that Satrapi and Paronnaud have some cinematic legs. This is wonderful. Very, very sad, but also utterly gorgeous. Mathieu Amalric stars as an Iranian violinist who gets in an argument with his wife (Pulp Fiction's Maria de Madeiros), who then breaks his prized violin. Unhappy with his life, Amalric decides to die and retreats to his bed. Over the next seven days, his life story plays out before his eyes. The exquisite visuals will certainly impress viewers, but it seems like the depth of the story gets lost on many. It is, simply, a story about the missed opportunities in life and how they haunt us. The beauty of the visuals gives it a kind of magic, but, in the end, this is a very tragic story that will resonate with many.

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    Related interests

    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Abdi tells Nasser-Ali that he saw there's a new film on at the Persepolis Theater. Persepolis (2007) is the first movie written and directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud.
    • Quotes

      Abdi: The damned Americans and English own everything. They think they're pumping our oil, but in reality they're sucking our blood.

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Venice Film Festival 2011 (2011)

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    FAQ19

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 26, 2011 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Germany
      • Belgium
    • Official sites
      • Official site (Japan)
      • Official site (United States)
    • Languages
      • French
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Thịt gà mận
    • Filming locations
      • Studio Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany
    • Production companies
      • Celluloid Dreams
      • The Manipulators
      • uFilm
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €12,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $253,874
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $11,301
      • Aug 19, 2012
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,265,941
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 33m(93 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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