Jacky in the Kingdom of Women (2014)

How sad is this?

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The country is somewhat of a mix between Iran and North Korea. It's like in many Muslim countries but in reverse. Men have to wear veils and stay at home while women go to work and run everything... Men's freedoms are very limited, even thought the state claims to be a democracy, and they are the ones being objectified and preyed on. Jacky, being a handsome young man, is admired by many women in his village. However he only likes the Colonelle and dreams that she selects him to become his rider( it's because the country worships horses so some jokes are about riding). The movie is pretty much a Cinderella story but in reverse and with a twist. It was fun to watch so 10/10 from me.

After Les Beaux gosses in 2009, everybody placed high hopes on Riad Sattouf's and was expecting his second movie to live up to his debut one but Jacky au royaume des filles turns out to be a complete disappointment. The scenario, to his credit, relies on an original and quirky background with lots of well thought out details but the plot could be summed up in one line and therefore runs out of steam very quickly. If the comic could compensate for the weakness of the script... but the few, contrived gags barely crack the viewer a smile. You finish this sloppy and endless (despite lasting only 1h30) movie in freewheel mode.

A wonderfully inventive and hilarious farce that offers an original take on the familiar Cinderella fairy tale, this French comedy also plays around with the usual gender roles. Imagine an Islamic like fundamentalist state in which the women hold the reins of power - they run the government and form the military - while the men are subjugated and have to wear clothing that covers them from head to toe. That's what's on offer in Bubunne, the fictional kingdom created by former graphic artist turned writer/director Riad Sattouf (the delightful coming of age tale The French Kissers, etc). The elderly general who rules the kingdom with an iron fist is ailing, and her eldest daughter, known as the Colonelle (played by Charlotte Gainsbourgh, recently seen in Nymphomaniac, etc), is set to take over the throne. But first she has to find a husband. A grand ball is planned, and all the men will attend in the hope that they will be picked. Jacky (played by Vincent Lacoste, from The French Kissers) is infatuated with the colonel, and has long dreamed of becoming her husband. But his cruel uncles and obnoxious cousins prevent him from attending the ball, until some unexpected help comes along. Sattouf keeps things moving along at a fast pace, with plenty of visual and verbal humour, and he has even created his own strange language for the kingdom. There is a nice surprise twist at the end, which will bemuse some. Lacoste brings plenty of energy to his role as the desperate, naive and virginal Jacky. Gainsborough seems drawn towards these offbeat, daring roles, and she is brave and game. The cast also includes Michel Hazanavicius, the Oscar winning director of The Artist, in a key role as a revolutionary, who becomes Jacky's unofficial "fairy godmother". Sattouf throws a lot of ideas at the screen and most of them work. This offbeat and satirical take on gender roles and politics is enjoyable and has the potential to be a real crowd pleaser.

I saw this movie at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal last night. The first thing that comes to my mind is that this movie is totally unique and a bit disturbing. It is not disturbing in an uncomfortable way, but more in the sens that it get to our world perceptions, and plays with it. This is what, in my opinion, makes the movie unique and worth seeing.The story is simple, maybe too simple, and that is what I would criticize the most about the movie. What is great is the universe in which the characters evolve, and the choice to flip accepted and widely known real world concept upside down, which at the end makes them much more visible, and gives us the opportunity to see them in another angle. Men wear the burka and are totally dominated by women, which is an absurd situation which makes us laugh, but also makes us stop and think that in the end, it's the (sometime difficult and unwanted) reality of a lot of women in the real world. Humour in this movie always come with an realistic double sense that makes us feel weird, but also makes us think.References to a lot of different totalitarian regimes in the real world are also interesting about the movie's universe, as are the references to different real world religions (Christianity is unfortunately not so much present).The actors are good and the characters are credible. The images are well shot, and some strange places shot in the movie makes us wonder if they were incredibly real or fake.I recommend watching the movie because it is special and unique, but I would probably not watch it again.Vive les chevalins! :D