La Reine blanche (1991) Directed by Jean-Loup Hubert
Drama
aka: The White Queen
Film 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.
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Next Jean-Loup Hubert film: À cause d'elle (1993)
Film Synopsis
In 1940, Jean Ripoche and Yvon Legualoudec had a fierce falling out over
their love for the same woman, Liliane. Whilst Jean remained in his
hometown of Nantes to marry Liliane, his rival went off to Antilles, to start
a new life. Twenty years on, Yvon returns to Nantes in the company of
his black wife, Annabelle, and their three mixed race children. By
now, Jean has an established plumbing business but his main preoccupation
at the present time is the float he is building for the impending town carnival.
Yvon is a pauper by comparison and makes his living by selling peanuts.
Yvon is keen to let bygones be bygones, so he invites Jean and his wife
to dinner at his house. The evening turns out to be a disaster and
the men part knowing that their mutual hatred is still intact after all these
years. Jean and Liliane's relationship comes under strain when past
grievances begin to resurface. The last straw comes when Yvon suggests
that his daughter Mireille should ride in Jean's float, as Liliane once did.
Rather than let this happen, Jean would rather destroy all of his hard work
and start again. Liliane's father Lucien then drops his bombshell, letting
his daughter in on his secret that it was he who forced Yvon into exile,
even paying for his passage to Antilles all those years ago...
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),
Didier Bénureau (Le présentateur),
Marie Bunel,
Zoon Besse,
Marcelle Lucas,
Alain Frérot,
Yvette Petit,
Hélène Hily
Country: France
Language: French
Support: Color
Runtime: 119 min
Aka:The White Queen
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.
In the 1910s, French cinema led the way with a new industry which actively encouraged innovation. From the serials of Louis Feuillade to the first auteur pieces of Abel Gance, this decade is rich in cinematic marvels.