FANTASIA OBSCURA: A Whimsical Anti-War Tale That is Full of Heart
There are some fantasy, science fiction, and horror films that not every fan has caught. Not every film ever made has been seen by the audience that lives for such fare. Some of these deserve another look, because sometimes not every film should remain obscure.
Sometimes, it’s hard to tell where the crazy ends or begins…
King of Hearts (1966)
Distributed by: United Artists (in US)
Directed by: Philippe de Broca
You’d think that by 1966, we’d have had enough of war in the 20th Century…
And yet, it turned into a banner year for mayhem. Namibia declared independence from South Africa, starting a conflict that would take 24 years to fight. Chad’s civil war was heating up and getting ready for the long haul, lasting until 1979. And of course the big show itself, with the US losing just over 6,000 that year in their futile efforts to keep South Vietnam from becoming communist. Is it any wonder the Nobel Peace Prize was not given out that year?
So what better time then for this film…?
The film opens just as World War I is coming to an end, and the Germans are pulling back from captured territory around Marville, France. The German general in charge of this theater of war (Pierre Brasseur), who had used the town as his HQ, is not taking this well at all; in fact, he’s set up a booby trap in the town square with a timer; if his calculations are right, not only will the town be wiped off the map, but so will the Scottish regiment pushing them back, when they claim the town from the Germans.
Word of this gets back to the commander of the Highlanders, Colonel Alexander McBibenbrook (Adolfo Celi), from spies in the town. The Colonel decides he needs to send a specialist to deal with the booby trap, so he picks the soldier who he feels is best qualified for the task, Charles Plumpick (Alan Bates). The fact that Plumpick speaks French and has commendations for his work in the Signal Corps places him at the top of McBibenbrook’s list.
The fact that Plumpick has absolutely no background whatsoever with ordinance disposal does not in any way deter McBibenbrook from sending him on his mission. Not that he needs those skills right away; his efforts to infiltrate the town while encountering the last Germans patrols force him to run and hide, and at one point while hiding he takes a hit to the head and falls unconscious.
During his incapacity, the rest of the residents of Marville flee, leaving behind the inmates at the insane asylum (which Plumpick passed through during his flight) without securing the gate. The inmates, led nominally by Monsieur Marguerite (Julien Guiomar) and Madame Eva / Egalentine (Michele Presle), decide to walk out into the town, where each decides to pick out clothes left behind during the evacuation and take on a role that suits them with what feels like magical ease. Thus, Marguerite assumes the role of a cardinal, Eva to local madam, Coquelicot (Genevieve Bujold) an aerialist, and the others make efforts to become their better selves in the most unusual way possible.
When he awakens, Plumpick finds himself among people whose sense of being at ease and happy with their lot in life feels contagious. At first he tries to stay on mission, but the new residents of the town, oblivious to the war in the asylum, are of no help. In fact, they are so impressed with him, the proclaim him their king, under the title “Le Roi de Coeur,” the King of Hearts.
Ultimately, their charm and contentment wear him down, and he falls under their spell, and starts coming to see the world the way they do. In fact, he starts to return Coquelicot’s affections, falling in love with her even with imminent destruction about to come for them…
It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get the point of de Broca’s film, about how war is crazy and that we may be on the wrong side of the line where “sane” and “otherwise” is placed if we continue in this way. We’re forced to ask this as we watch the inmates refuse to acknowledge the war and ignore potential doom at any moment, which feels like a subtle jab at that other background martial distraction from 1966, in order to live their lives as they see fit, worry free and in love with their place in the universe. Their force of will at shaping their reality is a potent power that you start to sympathize with, hoping that they can end the war they live amidst (and maybe the one we do as well) with just good vibes.
And it’s in watching them completely assume their roles that the film builds a magic of its own; de Broca’s cast in these roles are vibrant in their effusiveness as we watch them. Even the “sane” characters give their best to the director, whose lyrical storytelling about a place out of time and reality loaded with whimsy, bright colors, wonderful staging, and an on-point score by Georges Delerue, pulls you in to their universe.
Not everyone, however, was so enchanted; the film was a commercial failure in France the year it came out, and was considered a disappointment by de Broca and his fans. It would be years later, in 1973 when the film comes to the United States, that its charms found an appreciative audience. American audiences fell madly for it; one theater, the Central Square Cinemas in Cambridge, MA, booked the film for a four-year run.
What likely made the film such a touchstone was its providing an answer to the stress of war. Vietnam was winding down by the time the movie opened in the US, and the audiences who embraced it and built its cult following were looking for any solace they could. The ability to turn off the pain caused by bloodshed must have been a powerful message for those who would keep it in memory, and keep coming to the theater to see it as often as possible.
It’s like they say in the old gag: “You don’t have to be crazy, but it helps…”
NEXT TIME: Don’t question this film, just breathe it in. Just breathe, breathe in the air; don’t be afraid to care…
