Rating: 
Summary: wonderful.
Review: This is a movie everyone should see. I know that everyone always writes that, but I really mean it. I've never seen another movie like it in my whole life. there's something hauntingly, charmingly true about it. The story is set in 1918, in a small french town that has been evacuated because there's a bomb hidden. A scottish soldier is sent in to disable it, but he doesn't know where it's hidden or when it's going to go off. Accidentally freeing all the inmates of the insane asylum who've been left (by the fleeing townspeople) in the town, the soldier finds himself stuck among them, trying to convince them to leave, but having no luck. the inmates are irresistibly lovable, carefree, full of wisdom and completely free of all societal restraints. it's impossible not to fall in love with the world they create in the evacuated town. I think the movie is only made better by being in another language: reading the subtitles, you can imagine the characters saying the lines in any way that you want. French is such a beautiful language: that, combined with the unobtrusive music, makes for a film strangely silent and beautiful. It makes me cry. Please go watch it. It's definitely one of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Enchanting fantasy; topical allegory; classic movie
Review: A fairy tale set in a French town caught between the opposing armies of the First World War, "King of Hearts" has lost none of its beguiling charm in the 35 years since its original release, nor has its message grown stale. Alan Bates shines as Charles Plumpick, a simple private in a Scottish regiment and perhaps the only sane man in the abandoned town. But is his world of war and brutality really any saner than the make-believe world conjured up by the escaped inmates of the town lunatic asylum, the only residents Private Plumpick encounters during his reconaissance? It is a point of view that depends entirely on one's perspective. This whimsical, gentle tale challenges the watcher to reexamine what constitutes true madness, just as the asylum characters force Pvt. Plumpick, having been to his initial discomfort acclaimed as the King of Hearts, to choose which role he prefers: king of the fools or fool for King George V? Broca directs his own screenplay with a deft touch and using a stellar cast of mostly French actors. A very young Genevieve Bujold makes one of her earliest appearances in a major picture. The English subtitles aren't the best I've seen (and unlike the VHS version, are distractingly present even during English dialogue), but far better than the awful English-dubbed version of "King of Hearts" that is sometimes broadcast or sold. (The best subtitles I have ever seen were on a print that circulated around theatres during the 1970s and 1980s, but I've never seen this version used for home video.) The score by Georges Delerue is one of his best. Quelle Surprise! This DVD version has, without fanfare, at least two entirely new scenes in the film that I have never seen before (and I first saw this in 1977). The first is a lengthier "homily" by Monseigneur Marguerite (aka Bishop Daisy) in the church before Charles' coronation. But the real grabber is an added scene at the very end of the movie that offers a parting glance at the primary players and a final bittersweet twist. Where on earth did this footage come from, and why has it been missing from this film for so long? Does this DVD version offer a "better" ending than the familiar one? It's debateable. But it's certainly intriguing.
Rating:
Summary: Best Ending Ever!
Review: This movie has the very best ending ever. I'd like to see someone try and find a more surprising, happier, funnier ending than this one. The loonies are in town and they've found their king and my heart. This movie takes the bag. It's my father's very favorite movie and one of mine. I definitely recommend this movie.
Rating:
Summary: A buck-naked skip with birdcage!
Review: This gem should hit many different emotions for the avid viewer. A true parade of carnival characters set in an antiwar theme -- this bit of royalty of the heart brings up aTHE enigma: Is the difference between psychosis and psychic just a paper-thin line of cultural subjectivism? Is the lunacy of blowing up yet another vacant city on the path to glory any different that skipping naked down a path with a birdcage in one's hand? This film started the boomers reading subtitles and (hopefully) brought them out of their fears of foreign film. (Don't get the dubbed version, it lacks so much charm.) Its popularity had a great deal to do with the country's mass-consciousness about the Viet Nam war; but I hope it would have found the same audience without such a catalyst. One feels like dancing in a fountain and blowing bubbles on the back of a bus after seeing this great flick. Keep a kazoo handy; you'll want to have something to toot after the film is over and you are left to your organized sanity! Better yet, follow it up with the 1972 release of "The Ruling Class" and have yourself a truly insane evening of jocularity.
Rating: 
Summary: Is there something extra on this DVD?
Review: King of Hearts was, in my younger and more vulnerable years, one of my favorite movies, but I had not seen it in many years. In fact, I'd rather forgotten about it. Then I came across the DVD and bought it and watched it again. Still a great movie, but I was puzzled. My recollection was the final scene of the movie is Plumpick (Alan Bates) appearing at the gate of the asylum naked. Then the credits began (rather abruptly as I recollect). In the DVD, however, there is a short scene after this where Bates has joined the inmates and there is a brief exchange of dialog. I don't recall ever seeing this before, but maybe my memory is foggy. No one else seems to have mentioned this either in ... of IMDB, nor does the DVD tout a restored scene. Can anyone tell me if they recall this scene?
Rating:
Summary: One of the very best
Review: This is one of the very best movies I've ever seen and, sadly, it may be as timely and topical today as it was when it was released in 1966.
A young soldier during the First World War infiltrates a French town, looking for a bomb left behind by the Germans. The town has been evacuated by all but the residents of the lunatic asylum.
Charming, idiosyncratic, touching. This is the movie that made Genevieve Bujold, who gives a luminescently loony performance. Alan Bates is also great.
The final image may be the best -- certainly one of the top two or three -- closing scenes of any movie.
This is a great movie, full of charm in the midst of savagery.
Rating:
Summary: Hilariously Fantastic!
Review: its hilarious, great concept, and completely awesome
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful jewel for the soul's delight
Review: A cult classic that holds universal appeal. Chic or staid, conservative or liberal, you will be enchanted by this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful transfer
Review: I remember the movie from when I was in college and it has always been one of my favorites. Look at the trailer if you want to see what it looked on the movie screen, very nice transfer to DVD. Too bad the only 'extra' is the trailer.
Rating:
Summary: Yep, not for everybody...
Review: To quote the ever-clueless Leonard Maltin: ***** From Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide Scotsman Bates walks into French town in WW1 that has been abandoned by everyone except those in the insane asylum. Stylish film isn't for all tastes, but has become a cult favorite. Offbeat. Techniscope. Copyright© Leonard Maltin, 1998-2001, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc. He wouldn't know "Offbeat" it if crowned him King of the Asylum; and it's obvious that the "tastes" he refers to are his alone! I have adored this movie since I first saw it as a teenager in Georgetown, DC. I can't imagine a more endearing movie. Seeing it again only reaffirms my long-held desire to live there...
|
