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Home » Movies, Movies,Reviews

Je suis le seigneur du château

Submitted by skykid on April 14, 2009 – 8:12 amView Comments

je-suis-le-seigneur-du-chateauJe suis le seigneur du château ( I’m the King of the Castle ) is a really famous movie. If you are hearing about it for the very first time, I would say that I envy you as you are going to view it for a very first time. I can assure you that once you do you will remember it for quite a while.

The film is a screen adaptation of the novel by Susan Hill, “I am the King of the Castle”. ( After seeing the film, the book is on my must read list ) The film is a mixture of thriller and drama . It`s director is Régis Wargnier who does an incredible job of portraying the jealousy of childhood and the misunderstanding and confusion of the adult world. The excellent directing is complete with the most suitable soundtrack for such a dramatic tale. Classical music from Sergei Prokofiev. His very heavy and intense music certainly manages to suggest the dismally dark undercurrents and elemental forces which can lead only to tragedy. As soon as the final credits rolled I rushed out to find some music of his to listen too and am doing that at this very moment while writing this review. ( you can do the same while reading it )

After the death of his wife, Jean Breaud, decides to hire a maid for his son. Relatives recommend to him a Ms. Vernet and he decides that she will be an excellent choice.  Ms. Vernet has a son of the same age as his own and he hopes that the boys will become playmates and friends. However things don’t go as planned. Thomas (Breaud’s son)  is a spoiled and yet fragile rich kid. To him, Charles the son of the maid, is an intruder and he decides to make his life as miserable as possible. He develops a plan to get Charles and his mother out of his father’s castle. Irritated that Charles does not follow him around, he tells him that he is in charge and that he is to obey him. He cites  the reason is that his mother is an employee at his father’s castle they are poor unlike he and his dad. Seeing that this won’t be enough Thomas goes on with his plan by trowing stones and hiding death birds in Charle`s bed …

je-suis-le-seigneur-du-chateau1

At the same time Ms. Vernet and Jean Breaud fall in love. This irritates further Thomas who now has yet another reason to hate his maid and her son. His actions could be compared with the ones of Macaulay Culkin’s character in the film ” The Good Son “. However as Pedro Aguiar mentions in his review of the film published at IMBD -- “childish cruelty here is not a psycho obsession, but rather a means of defense which is later surpassed.”

seigneur62

Regis Arpin and David Behar are casted to play the roles of Thomas and Charles. They deliver an outstanding performance in very challenging roles . I was surprised to find out that neither of the young actors pursued further careers in cinema, a real pity considering their immense talents.

I would recommend this movie for all to see. At least true fans of the cinema and in particular the coming of age genre. The film is a real masterpiece and a should be in everyone’s collection .

Check out this beautiful clip with scenes with the film ( warning : may inlude spoilers )


Get the film from Amazon.com

Prokofiev -- Romeo And Juliet -- Montagues And Capulets

Rate I’m the King of the Castle and discover new titles

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View Comments »

  • Lucas says:

    This movie seems to be a bit of a challenge to watch, according to the violence in it, yet still very interesting and with excellent music by Prokofiev. I will have to watch it soon.

  • skykid says:

    The film does not have much violence in it – I am a bit surprised that you impressions from the trailer are such …

  • lubican says:

    where can I find the music your video clip?
    what is it?
    it is wonderfull

  • skykid says:

    I took the film from youtube and don`t know where the music comes from. But you are right – its wonderful. May be you can ask the person who uploaded the clip – he/she should know

  • denis raymond says:

    It's the Boys Air Choir from her 'Boys Gregorian's album.

  • skykid says:

    Yes feel free to do that . And in general you can use the content of my blog – provided that you link back.

  • CelestialTones says:

    Looks beautiful to watch. It wouldn't happen to have english subtitles by any chance?

  • skykid says:

    Of course the film comes with English subtitles .

  • skykid says:

    Thank you Denis. I have 2 albums of Boys Air Choir – but did not recognize the song myself .

  • Billy416 says:

    A powerful movie about two boys fighting for prevalence on castle thomas is the master of castle and charls is the intruder
    very similar to “A Good Boy” this movie has show us the thin line between the hate & love that children have on it.
    like every frence movie the performance of two boys is awesome.
    So 7/10 is a fair point for this movie

  • skykid says:

    Yes I agree that the performance of the young leads was truly outstanding. As about ” A Good Boy” – I saw that quite some time ago and by now don`t really remember much of it – but that only means that its time for me to see it again.

    Thank you for your comments Billy416 !

  • Billy416 says:

    A powerful movie about two boys fighting for prevalence on castle thomas is the master of castle and charls is the intruder
    very similar to “A Good Boy” this movie has show us the thin line between the hate & love that children have on it.
    like every frence movie the performance of two boys is awesome.
    So 7/10 is a fair point for this movie

  • skykid says:

    Yes I agree that the performance of the young leads was truly outstanding. As about ” A Good Boy” – I saw that quite some time ago and by now don`t really remember much of it – but that only means that its time for me to see it again.

    Thank you for your comments Billy416 !

  • coreybernstein says:

    Where can i get a copy?

  • skykid says:

    Amazon.com ( link included at the end of the article ) also Cvmc.net and various other online stores.

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