User Reviews

"Reines d'Un Jour" is a film composed of 4 subplots. In the time of one hour and a half, the viewer will watch a day in the lives of 4 protagonists. There's Hortense (Karin Viard), a speech therapist who spends the major part of the film with her mobile because she wants to spend the evening with one of her 2 lovers. Either Ben (Melvil Poupaud), either Sherman (Gilbert Melki). Things could take unexpected even derisory, absurd turns for her. In parallel, a young photograph Marie (Hélène Fillières) who were present at a wedding and had sex with the groom learns she's pregnant and dismissed from her job. From then onwards, she endlessly roams in Paris. On the other side of Paris, a former chef on the telly Maurice (Victor Lanoux) is about to receive a one-time lover Jane (Jane Birkin) but time passes by and keeps him waiting... At last, Luis (Sergi Lopez) a bus driver learns on duty that his wife Michèle (Clémentine Célarié) leaves him. Like Marie, he's fired from his job and wanders in Paris too to try to forget his pain...

In her precedent opus "Rien à Faire" (1999), Marion Vernoux demonstrated her own "Savoir Faire"! It means she took a rather dramatic situation and decided not to stay confined in sullenness. Through the use of a subtle and light cinematographic writing, she managed to bestow her work with a placating, even happy aura. This method worked well in the quoted film so the director did it again for her "Reines d'Un Jour". The four main protagonists all go through an unfortunate mishap and from the start the film could take a leap into a desperate blackness. There's nothing of the sort. Marion Vernoux prefers to incorporate laughter and to play with her camera and the sound to better reflect their thoughts or illusions. For instance, the viewer can often hear Hortense's thoughts about her lovers and throughout the film as the day fades to dusk the viewer can see her undecided character. And as she can't master the situations she finds herself in she is out of her depth. Another example is Maurice whose dreams or imagination about the meeting with Jane is recreated with the help of a kitsch cinematography with bright colors. So a playful form serves a gloomy content and so the gravity of the film is dismantled by a light, aerial directing constantly reinforced by a delicate music whose similar melody comes back as a leitmotiv. The director didn't also forget to maintain a proximity tinged with sympathy with her characters. And I think there's one major theme Marion Vernoux developed in her film: responsibility. Because the characters all live a drama, they behave in an irresponsible way.

The director also gathered a stellar cast with familiar actors who are always a treat to watch acting.

When a grave topic is allied with a jaunty treatment and shelves tears for smiles it can work wonders...

Really a French movie: a light, humoristic but dramatic film. Shot with a bit of irony, especially with the music they used, but they really touched the dramatic side as well. In short, the movie is about four characters with some really relational, emotional and sexual problems/frustrations. They don't know each other but they meet during the film in various ways, not knowing that they actually know each other. Only the public finds out.

Every individual has his own frustration and you can see that that really takes all the energy away from all of them and that this isn't the first time they have relational problems. Though the idea of projecting just one day of the character's life (left out a very few flashbacks) is great, the story doesn't develop as much as you hope it's gonna be. That is shame, the director could just add a bit more of a surprising or satisfying plot to it and it was really worth an 8. Still a good movie to watch, especially when you like the French way of filming. 7/10.

The thing about this movie is that it shows the life of French characters,in a believable entertaining way. It is entertaining if you are interested in how regular people with regular jobs would handle situations in France. In the film,there are some topics chosen about the few ( about five ) main characters which eventually bring them together. The actors are believable,the decors are ok (Paris streets,interior houses,cafe),the dialogues are smooth,invite for contemplation and contains the biggest weight of these three constituent components. Of course,its about a moment shot in life,so don't expect an end with all answers taken care of!

In Paris, the life of four persons are affected by their loves in a common day. Marie Larue (Hélène Fillières) has a sexual attraction followed by an intercourse with the bride in a wedding where she is the photographer. Three weeks later, she realizes that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, the cuckold husband of the unfaithful wife and therapist Hortense Lassalle (Karin Viard) travel to London and she tries to contact her two former lovers, expecting to have one night stand with one of them. While driving the bus, the bus driver Luis Del Sol (Sergi Lopez) is surprisingly informed by his wife that she is going to leave him, driving him mad. The former actor Maurice Degombert (Victor Lanoux) is contacted by phone by his former partner and passion after twenty-two years, and he wonders how will be their meeting.

"Reines d'un Jour" is a delightful movie, indeed a gem to be discovered, picturing the life, love and disappointment of common people in a great city. It is inevitable a comparison with American movies of the same genre. This French movie, on the contrary of most American ones, is credible, showing ordinary persons that are not beautiful or handsome needing to work to survive, persons that do not live in fancy houses, do not drive expensive cars, use buses and do not have mobile phone. The cast has magnificent performance and the inconclusive end fits perfectly to the context of the story. The natural beauty of Hélène Fillières is another attraction in this must- see film! My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Um Dia de Rainha" ("A Day of Queen")

If "Reines d'un jour" (literally "Queens for a Day", also known as "A Hell of a Day"), were a good film, it might perhaps be renamed as "French Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown".

It tells of a day in the lives of four ordinary people living in Paris, whose stories run parallel and who casually meet and interact. In particular, it is about women obsessed by their complicated relationships with men, and who have a hard time finding love, happiness, or at least safe sex without unplanned consequences, either in marriage or in adultery!

Unfortunately, "Reines d'un jour" is not a good film. Do not believe the favorable reviews; it is a boring, clueless, bad film. It annoys viewers with poorly written dialogs, uninteresting characters, and unfunny attempts at irony.

To be fair, there are a few (not many) almost enjoyable moments, and some of the subplots have the potential to make a good story, perhaps, in other hands. However, even the catchy ideas are not developed properly, and the film never takes off. In the end, there is only disappointment left. It could have been fun, but it was not.

Some of the actors, such as Karin Viard, who plays Hortense, are not inexperienced. I guess they might be good in other movies. Too bad their performance is rather wasted in this inconclusive French production. As for the "magic" of Paris, with its usually beautiful scenery of the River Seine and so on, in this movie there is too little of it even to make a nice Paris "postcard".

In conclusion, even if you are searching for a silly yet entertaining date-flick about the follies of love in modern times, do not waste your money or your time with this dull movie, because of its absolute lack of wit, humour, or real feelings. My vote is 3 out of 10, but my girlfriend, who saw the film with me, gave it a 2.