& Queen to Play (Caroline Bottaro)
Bertina Henrichs, born in Frankfurt, has lived in France for over 15 years. Following studies in literature and cinema, she became a scriptwriter of documentaries and fiction. Her fascination for the light and colour of the Greek isles, which she's visited many times, makes for the great authenticity of the story. La Joueuse d'échecs, her first novel, was written directly in French. The author finds it a nice irony that her Sorbonne thesis was on the subject of writers who adopt a new language in exile!
Eleni is a chambermaid in a tourist hotel on the island of Naxos. Having reached her forties, her dreary life revolves almost solely around her work, the car mechanic husband she married at eighteen, her two adolescent children and a childhood friend. She finds her only place of freedom in the rooms she cleans every morning and in the objects she sees there through which she dreams of another life... One day by accident she knocks over a chess piece of a match in progress. And unexpectedly her life is turned upside down: to the great displeasure of her family and the dumbfounded inhabitants of the island, she develops a passion for this game. Little by little, Eleni grows ever closer to emancipation and self-awareness. An unexpected portrait of an ordinary woman and a novel that could adapt beautifully to screen.
À propos-
Female liberation can take many forms, and the route Caroline Bottaro navigates in her debut directorial effort is Queen to Play . . . (Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline)
. . . from the obvious feminist fable it could have been, Bottaro managed one that is most subtle and evocative.
2 comments:
Yes, I've seen this movie. Watched it a few weeks ago and loved it. The direction and the lead actress were fantastic. Kevin Kline, an actor whom I do not particularly like, was at his finest and delivered a wonderfully nuanced performance. Nice choice Ms. E.
Thanks. I enjoyed both book and movie.
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