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La Reine blanche
1991 Drama
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Credits
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Director: Jean-Loup Hubert
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Script: Jean-Loup Hubert
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Photo: Claude Lecomte
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Music: Georges Delerue
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Cast: Catherine Deneuve (Liliane Ripoche),
Richard Bohringer (Jean Ripoche),
Bernard Giraudeau (Yvon Legualoudec),
Jean Carmet (Lucien),
Laure Moutoussamy (Annabelle),
Isabelle Carré (Annie),
Muriel Pultar (Mireille),
Geneviève Fontanel (Rita),
Antoine Hubert (Nicolas),
Julien Hubert (Milou),
Pauline Hubert (Pauline),
Loïc Rutkowski (Boulou),
Cyril Régis (Jérémie)
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Country: France
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Language: French
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Runtime: 119 min
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Aka: The White Queen
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Summary
In 1960, in a coastal town near to Nantes, Jean Ripoche lives with his wife Liliane, their
four children and Liliane’s father Lucien. Jean divides his time between running
his plumbing business and making a float for the Nantes carnival. The Ripoche’s
ordered lives are thrown into turmoil when Jean’s former friend, Yvon Legualoudec, returns
to the town - with his black wife Annabelle and their three children. Before he
disappeared twenty years ago, without saying a word, Yvon was Jean’s rival for Liliane’s
affections. As bitter memories resurface, the relationship between Jean, Yvon and
Liliane become strained. Yvon suggests that his daughter Mireille should ride on
Jean's float as the Queen of Nantes, just as Liliane did many years ago. For Jean,
this is the final straw...
Review
Despite its impressive star-studded cast, La Reine blanche fails to live up to
its expectations and is essentially a rather lacklustre sentimental drama, painfully slow
in places. Richard Bohringer and Bernard Giraudeau put in some spirited, often moving,
performances, but the rest of the cast (especially Catherine Deneuve) appear to be bored
by the whole thing, and so the film feels at best uneven, at worst woefully stilted.
By failing to show the unpalatable truth about attitudes to black people in the early
1960s, the film appears overly cautious and unconvincing. In the film's most
dramatic scenes we do, however, get a glimpse of the much better work which this could
have been if its director had been prepared to take a few more risks.
© James Travers 2003
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