Queen to Play is a very heart warming movie with moments that will have you wondering what's going to happen next. It's about a middle aged woman named Helene, who works as a traveling maid and sets her sights higher than most. You can tell she is fed up with her current job and needs something new in her life. While she is cleaning a house on her normal schedule, she sees the housekeeper (Kroger) playing cheese with a woman. There both laughing and enjoying their time, which is the spark of Helene's new found obsession with chess. She goes out of her way to buy her husband an electronic chess board to see if he will start playing with her, but in response he hates it. Finally Helene gets the urge to ask Kroger to teach her while she is cleaning his house. At first he is very skeptical to teach a french woman how to play chess, since he is an American. Kroger gives in and teaches Helene everything she needs to know to become the best their ever lived. Helene ends up joining a chess competition where her fate for the future of chess playing lies.
Director Caroline Bottaro does a great job on selecting the cast for this movie. She uses Helene played by Sandrine Bonnaire, in such a way it gives you the feeling that she keeps getting more and more obsessed with this game. Anywhere from moving bread crumbs at dinner for chess pieces to soap containers in the bathroom. Bonnaire gives off this real energy I feel like someone would have in real life if they were to discover something they had never seen or played before. Kroger played by Kevin Kline is also very well played out. Kevin Kline being on of my favorite older actors has done it yet once again in his very first French film. His French is also remarkable and very well understood. The both of these characters play so well off each other that I believe this is what makes the movie work. Caroline Bottaro is a very young director and still has a huge career ahead of her, I hope to see some good movies come from her soon.
The cinematography in this movie really does a great job on capturing love, suspense, and happy moments with close ups and very low angled shots. This adds to the movie more so than just having simple straight on wide angle shots. Notice just simple techniques used like this throughout the movie that makes it just that much better. The music is also something much needed in some parts of the film, even though its just chess, this movie gives off a suspenseful vibe. I highly recommend this movie for chess fanatics, but also people who are into love, drama, and overall feel good movies.
Director Caroline Bottaro does a great job on selecting the cast for this movie. She uses Helene played by Sandrine Bonnaire, in such a way it gives you the feeling that she keeps getting more and more obsessed with this game. Anywhere from moving bread crumbs at dinner for chess pieces to soap containers in the bathroom. Bonnaire gives off this real energy I feel like someone would have in real life if they were to discover something they had never seen or played before. Kroger played by Kevin Kline is also very well played out. Kevin Kline being on of my favorite older actors has done it yet once again in his very first French film. His French is also remarkable and very well understood. The both of these characters play so well off each other that I believe this is what makes the movie work. Caroline Bottaro is a very young director and still has a huge career ahead of her, I hope to see some good movies come from her soon.
The cinematography in this movie really does a great job on capturing love, suspense, and happy moments with close ups and very low angled shots. This adds to the movie more so than just having simple straight on wide angle shots. Notice just simple techniques used like this throughout the movie that makes it just that much better. The music is also something much needed in some parts of the film, even though its just chess, this movie gives off a suspenseful vibe. I highly recommend this movie for chess fanatics, but also people who are into love, drama, and overall feel good movies.