Movies Reviews

Queen to Play (Joueuse) – Movie Review

By Ron Wilkinson Apr 11, 2011, 12:57 GMT

Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline (in his first French-speaking role) shine in this sophisticated feel-good comedy set in idyllic Corsica... ...more

Chess as romance could go places but there are not enough moves here for a full game.

Caroline Bottaro pulled the rabbit out of the hat in getting acting icons Sandrine Bonnaire and Kevin Kline to star in her debut feature film “Queen to Play.” The film is a modest exercise in personality development on the part of Bonnaire playing the part of Helene.

Kline plays reclusive intellectual Dr. Kroger who is able to move beyond his emotional stasis with the help of Helene. The cinematography is lush and full of the countryside and the sets and costumes match perfectly. If anything, the film is a bit too sure of itself. Bonnaire does her best to do the heavy lifting but Kline’s mind is elsewhere.

The story revolves around a hard working husband and wife (Helene) who manage to make ends meet with the wife working part time as a house cleaner for the reclusive Dr. Kroger. Helene chances upon a chess game between two lovers (Americans?) in a room in the hotel where she works cleaning.

The two chess players seem to have achieved a connection beyond anything she knows. She falls in love with chess. Or did she fall in love with love? When she sees the board set up in Kroger’s study she summons the courage to ask him to teach her to play.

This begins a series of interactions between the two where the game of chess, with its feints and assaults, symbolizes what could be an incipient romance. This effect is heightened by the rising anger of Helen’s husband who senses something is up.

At the same time that this play on romance is carried out Helene grows out of the shell of the subservient homemaker and blossoms into a sure-footed woman with a sense of herself. Thankfully, her husband Ange (Francis Renaud) senses what is happening and does not succumb completely to fits of brainless jealousy.

He comes close, but apparently novelist Bertina Henrichs saw that pitfall coming and avoided it. Director Bottaro read the manuscript of Henrichs’ novel when the two were neighbors and immediately fell in love with it. One of the hallmarks of the story is a blessed refusal to give to simple answers or stereotypes.

The result is a passable gift in a nicely wrapped package about a chance relationship that acts as a catalyst for personal development. All is well that ends well.

The film refuses to become a political statement about women’s rights or get preachy about women competing with men. Helene’s main virtue appears to be her patience and her ability to learn from her mistakes. One of the oldest chess lessons teaches that the loser in a game always learns more than the winner. Humility goes a long way.

In the end, Helene emerges as a chess champion against all odds. This comes dangerously close to drowning in schmaltz but the plot is able to portray her success as the result of natural curiosity combined with faith and virtue. If you never try you never succeed, and so on.

Unfortunately this entire film comes off as being a bit too humble and a bit too certain in its heading towards a happy ending. In the final chess tournament where all of Helene’s odd behavior is vindicated Kroger communicates with her telepathically and guides her to the winning moves. Or, at least, he guides her to the winning attitude. Yes, this is a bit hard to take.

Kline goes through the motions of a heart-broken widow but his performance is a shadow of what we saw in, for example, “A Fish Called Wanda.” In fairness, he is probably sick of hearing people compare everything he does to that film but such comparisons are inevitable. He needs to give people something else to talk about.

In the end Francis Renaud does some of the most intense acting in the film. As working class husband Ange, he, too, is forced to move on to a different way of perceiving his wife and a different way of perceiving life as well.

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Directed by: Caroline Bottaro
Written by: Caroline Bottaro, Bertina Henrichs (novel)
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline and Valérie Lagrange
Release Date: March 11, 2011
MPAA: Not Rated
Runtime: 96 minutes
Country: France / Germany
Language: French / English
Color: Color