Winner of the Best Actress Award at Cannes and nominated for 6 César Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor, Mon roi, the new film by French actress-turned-filmmaker Maiwenn, focuses on the story of Tony (Emanuelle Bercot), a divorced woman in her forties who’s recently suffered a skiing accident and is now at a rehabilitation centre recovering from a severe leg trauma.
Perhaps for the first time in her life, Tony has to depend on doctors and painkillers while enduring painful rehabilitation exercises. The recovery process is long, so now she has plenty of time to reflect on her relationship with her handsome ex husband Giorgio (Vincent Cassel). Tempestuous and highly emotional, their affair brought about much bliss as well as a good deal of suffering to both.
Giorgio could very well be charming and sexy, and yet also inconsiderate and selfish, let alone immature. Tony became sort of infatuated with him from the moment they met, and as she got to know him she thought she’d found the right man to share her life with. And though they enjoyed endless happy days together, it wasn’t long before she started to realize they were not actually made for each other.
Sooner rather than later, she got pregnant and the prospect of a baby proved rewarding, but it also eroded their relationship some more. From then on, their marriage started going downhill.
There's nothing extraordinary about Mon roi’s storyline. There are no unexpected twists and turns in the narrative. There are no transcendental meanings or revelatory insights. Not even the way the story is narrated is original, as sequences of Tony's treatment at the rehab centre are intercut with recollections of her marriage, back and forth, until the very ending in which she’s nearly fully recovered.
Nonetheless, Mon roi is extremely engaging, very believable and notably vital. Narrated from Tony's point of view, much of the film’s appeal is due to the characters’ nuances and contradictions, which render them likable and unlikable human beings.
Maiwenn works with archetypes and she does so cleverly: she doesn’t strictly follow blueprints, but instead recreates her characters’ essence with different traits as to make them singular.
In turn, these characters are effortlessly brought to life by an ensemble of confident actors — they deliver gripping performances that never feel rehearsed. Even in the most typical situations, the performances in Mon roi look and sound alive and natural.
Much truth is also to be found in the dynamics of this couple with a love and hate relationship. Neither of them is ever demonized or sanctified, as they try to do their best even when their best is obviously not enough. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone involved in a sentimental relationship.
Individually, Tony and Giorgio are surely capable of having functional relationships, but together they clash too often for their love to last. Sometimes lovers break up not because they don’t love each other, but because they just cannot be together in spite of their love. A simple truth such as this is perfectly represented in this French couple’s love story, and it’s done in a down-to-earth, easy to recognize manner.
Very entertaining and alluring, Mon roi is a mature and understanding chronicle of a love affair that features remarkable scenes with a steady feeling of authenticity and true sentiment.
@PablSuarez
