They'll tell you that a film works best when the story takes place over a short space of time as it heightens tension, amplifies emotion, etc. This will especially go for romantic dramas as the heady rush of falling in love is more cinematic than following a relationship and its ups and downs over an extended period of time.
Nonsense. The Five Year Engagement, Blue Is The Warmest Colour and the underrated Crazy Love are only three recent films that put paid to that theory. Mon Roi, taking place over ten years, can be added to that list.
Marie-Antoinette, or Tony as she likes to be called (Bercot), is a criminal lawyer who meets the flash playboy Georgio (Cassel) in a club. There's an instant attraction with Tony succumbing to Georgio’s boyish charms. As the relationship develops – the early passionate days of rampant sex, through pregnancy, and onto marriage – the initial happiness gives way to niggling problems. Georgio is generous with his money but is really a selfish child; before long his attachment to his suicidal ex causes a rift in the marriage and things get worse from there. The other story in his dual narrative is Tony, sometime after this has gone down, recuperating from a ruptured crucial ligament in her knee from a skiing accident.
Okay. So let's get what doesn’t work out of the way first. There's one scene where Tony screams in frustration in the rain, which is a Movie Moment and doesn’t mesh with the realistic scenarios that dominate the film. Oh, and the mending of her knee/heart is a little obvious and lacks the energy of the romance narrative. And… well, that’s about it. Everything else in Mon Roi works like a dream with its short, snappy scenes propelling the believable romance ever forward.
While Maiwenn (Polisse), who co-wrote the script with Etienne Comar (who also wrote the multi award winning Of Gods And Men), is at pains to canonise Tony, she is careful not to totally demonise Georgio. He admits himself (although jokingly) he is the King… of jerks: He cheats, is an emotional bully, and manipulates situations to get what he wants (at one point he rents an apartment down the street so he can get away from his pregnant wife… and manages to sell this idea to Tony as a situation that would benefit them both). But he is sure fun to be around - witty, bubbly and can enliven a room by just being in it. His wanting to take care of his suicidal ex may make Tony jealous but it comes from a pure place.
Cassel has been this strong in years: charming when Georgio is at his best, infuriating and cruel when not. Bercot has arguably the more difficult job with a character that’s less clearly defined, but her determined performance ensures Tony never comes across as a doormat.
Wonderful stuff.