Blu-ray debut for Philippe de Broca's whimsical French "classic" from 1966 -- KING OF HEARTS

Throughout much of his life -- even now -- TrustMovies has been pretty much a sucker for whimsical movies. He loves the work of Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon, for instance, and even more so that of their Belgian compatriot, Jaco van Dormael. When he first saw KING OF HEARTS, directed by prolific French filmmaker Philippe de Broca, at the time of its initial USA theatrical release back in 1967, he found it pretty awful. But that was 51 years ago, and his tastes have changed some -- broadened and deepened -- over time. Since the film went on the become a kind of cult classic, he thought perhaps he'd missed something, and so, with its new release on DVD and Blu-ray from the Cohen Film Collection, the time seemed ripe for reconsideration.

The quick verdict: Despite its glorious new Blu-ray transfer -- crisp, clear, with colors that look as true and beautiful as they must have a half century ago -- fabulous cinematography by Pierre Lhomme, a fairy tale production design (François de Lamothe), and an international cast made up of some of the finest actors of the time, the movie still pretty much sucks.

I have great admiration for de Broca, shown at right, but of the dozen or so films of his I've seen, this is probably my least favorite. (The Five Day Lover would be my top choice.)

King of Hearts is cute-tending-towards-cutesy from its start, with silly names abounding and an already tired Hitler joke intruding on its World War I time frame. Italy's grand Adolfo Celi (above, center) is dubbed with a high-toned British accent, while England's dark and dour Alan Bates (on poster, top, and below) seems utterly lost and at his least in this world of French whimsy.

To buy into the film's would-be charm, you have to believe its overdone and rather ridiculous WWI opening. I couldn't back in 1967 and still can't manage it. The plot involves a twist on the old inmates-take-over-the-asylum theme, but this time they take over the entire town. And then they gambol, frolic and cavort. And cavort  And cavort some more.

The entire movie has perhaps a half-hour worth of content. The other 72 minutes are devoted to this tiresome frolicking. At times, I swear, you'll imagine that this must be the movie for which your DVD's fast-forward button was invented.

To its credit, King of Hearts is most definitely anti-war. A climactic scene, in fact, demonstrates the futility of wartime conflict, and if the rest of the film had some of this humorous satirical edge, it might have proven much stronger.

The two most charming characters here turn out to be women: the bordello madam, played with her usual finesse by Micheline Presle (above, in foreground) and that madam's most innocent worker, played by Geneviève Bujold (in yellow above, left, and in photo at bottom, right), in one of her early roles.

If you're a fan of this film, little will hold you back from wanting to see it again (and in such a fine transfer!). If you're a newcomer, however, its adorable cutesiness may set your teeth on edge so often along the way that I suggest you have a plastic mouthguard at the ready to protect those pearly whites.

From the Cohen Film Collection and running 103 minutes, King of Hearts hits the street this coming Tuesday, June 12, on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital -- for purchase and/or rental. Bonus features (on both DVD and Blu-ray) include feature-length audio commentary track by Wade Major, film critic with NPR affiliate KPCC-FM and co-host/producer of the IGN DigiGods podcast; a new conversation between Geneviève Bujold and IndieWire's Anne Thompson; a new interview with cinematographer Pierre Lhomme; and the 2018 USA re-release trailer and the French re-release trailer.

François Ozon's FRANTZ: an elegant, sad period piece from a masterful movie-maker

French filmmaker François Ozon has now made 18 full-length movies since his first one back in 1998 (roughly one per year) and at least as many short films, beginning in 1988. He has tackled a slew of genres -- fantasy, mystery, drama, comedy, satire, love story -- while some of his films jump and/or mash genres or simply create their own. He is consistently one of the most interesting and challenging filmmakers of our time, and I await each new work of his with pleasure and expectation. His latest to reach our shores, FRANTZ -- based upon an earlier movie by Ernst Lubitsch which itself was based upon a play by Maurice Rostand (son of Edmond) -- adds one more wonderful feather to M. Ozon's rather full cap.

Frantz is an exquisite, quietly beautiful period piece -- Ozon's third in this genre, I believe, after Angel and Potiche -- a near love story, as well as a soulful study of the after-effects of war on society at large, in this case that of Germany and France immediately after World War I. The filmmaker, shown above with the painting (Manet's The Suicide) that figures prominently in the movie, has given us a near-perfect production design (Michel Barthélémy) and art direction (Susanne Abel), costumes, sets and all the rest. The film was nominated for a slew of Césars but brought home only one (for the fine cinematography by Pascal Marti).

That cinematography is in mostly black-and-white, with occasional cuts to color as dictated by Ozon for emphasis on, well, perhaps happier moment/fantasies in the lives of these characters, or when the art of the movie captures some museum-level fine art. Whatever the motivation, the change from b/w to color and back works very well, most particularly at the film's quiet, moving and profound conclusion. The tale told is that of a grieving German family whose only son -- the titular Frantz --has been killed during the war. One day at the son's grave site, above, a strange young man appears who seems to be grieving, too.

The man, Adrien (played by Pierre Niney, above, of Yves Saint Laurent and other films) is French, and this fact is enough to outrage the German townspeople, especially the young man's father, played by Ernst Stötzner, below), even though Frantz's fiancee wants to know more about this stranger and his connection to her late and greatly lamented love.

The fiancee, Anna. is played by the lovely German actress Paula Beer (below), and as the film moves on it becomes more and more Anna's story, even though the mystery continues regarding just who Adrien really is and what his relationship with Frantz actually was. Anna. meanwhile, has become an integral part of Frantz's family, helping his parents through their grief, even as she tries to manage her own. Ms Beer proves exceptional, drawing us into her character and making us care deeply about what is going to happen, especially and finally to her.

Though M. Ozon maintains a stately pace, one's interest does not lag, and the filmmaker captures the time and place about as well as I have seen it yet done, without every unduly pushing for "period" effect. This may be his most elegant movie to date, and it is certainly among his best. It is also among the stranger and sadder of love stories -- or near love stories, at least -- one in which lies told for the good of all concerned, along with behavior dictated by social mores and "keeping the peace," all work against the desires and well being of both protagonists.

M. Niney is exemplary, as is usually the case (his YSL movie was a rare misfire), and the rest of cast fill out their roles graciously and well. Along with its story of love lost and love unrequited, Frantz is also enormously anti-war, yet has but one single gunshot fired throughout. As is true in so many of Ozon's movies, the obvious and expected are not what carry the weight. It's those after-effects that linger longest and point up the real damage.

Frantz, from Music Box Films and running 116 minutes, opens tomorrow, March 15, in New York City at Film Forum and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema; in Los Angeles on Friday, March 24, at the Landmark NuArt. Here in South Florida look for the film to open all over the place on March 31: in Miami at the Coral Gables Art Cinema and the O Cinema; in Hollywood at the Cinema Paradiso and Fort Lauderdale at the Savor Cinema; in Boca Raton at the Regal Shadowood and the Living Room Theaters, and at the Movies of Delray and Lake Worth. Over the weeks and months to come, the film will play all across the country. To find the theater nearest you, simply click here, then click on THEATERS on the task bar midway down your screen, and then keep scrolling down.

DVD/Blu-ray debut: DeNiro & Travolta go to war, mano-a-mano, in KILLING SEASON

First thing to mention: how absolutely gorgeous this movie looks on Blu-ray. Much of KILLING SEASON was shot outdoors, and I swear you can count the veins in each leaf -- the detail is that superb. If you missed this little movie -- featuring two of the most important U.S. actors of the past century -- when it came to (and quickly went from) theaters just last month, no problem: It arrives on DVD and Blu-ray this coming Tuesday for our delectation.

Those two actors, Robert De Niro and John Travolta, will do nothing for the younger set who make up most of the movie audience these days, but they will ring a bell or two for us seniors, though we are not part of the target group that revels in the kind of uber-violence the movie serves up. As written by Evan Daugherty and directed by Mark Steven Johnson (shown at right), the film focuses on an incident in the Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian War of two decades past for which revenge is now sought and subsequently taken. Sort of.

Running but 91 minutes, the movie is relatively swift and event-filled enough to keep us watching. And when it does lag a bit, that scenery remains lovely (the end credits make the kind of use of this scenery that I have not seen previously).

Basically a two-hander (the few supporting characters barely get a chance to register), the movie allows both actors to turn in decent performances. DeNiro, above, seems to have cornered critical appreciation (such as it was; reviews were not particularly posi-tive), but Travolta (below, in the "villain" role) does a nice job, too.

To keep the plot thrusting forward, the tables must be turned, of course, and then turned again, then turned some more. (You may eventually want to yell at the filmmakers, "Would you leave those fucking tables alone!") How and why this happens generally remains just this side of believable, so you'll probably continue until the finale is reached.

The audience for this sort of thing would seem to be mostly us guys, and probably the older ones, at that. Audiences raised on The Rock and now Channing Tatum and his ilk will probably worry that our two old fogeys will sprain their ankle or throw their lower back out. Considering this, both De Niro and Travolta (along with their stunt doubles) seem singularly spry.

Killing Season, from Millennium Entertainment, hits the streets this coming Tuesday, August 20, on both Blu-ray and DVD, for sale and/or rental.

Open Roads Heads-up: Aureliano Amadei's 20 CIGARETTES is the must-see of this fest

TrustMovies has now seen two of the three films he'd not yet caught when he posted on this terrific series -- OPEN ROADS -- that is now mid-way through its 8-day run at the FSLC. The chance to see the best Italian films of the past year is nothing to sneeze at, and this year's crop is as fine as ever.

Aureliano Amadei's 20 CIGARETTES may be the find of this fest. Certainly, it is the best movie about the current "western" misadventure in Iraq that I've yet seen. Yet it deals with Italian soldiers and filmmakers over there. It is also the strongest pacifist film in many, many years. Extremely personal, it is the filmmaker's own Iraq experience (which now has Amadei, shown at right, walking haltingly via cane with a degenerative ankle that will eventually leave him with a prosthetic foot) -- it jiggers narrative-based-on-life and the documentary form into the most successful combination I've yet seen: vital, thrilling, funny and supremely moving,  I must see this film again, and I hope you can see it at least once. It plays a final time in Open Roads on Mon., June 6, 2pm.

You can read more in my slightly longer piece on the film published in the Opens Roads Rundown. Click the link preceding to find a description and short review of all the films in the series -- save one. I will see We Believed (Noi Credevamo) later today and report on it tomorrow.