''Queen to Play'' (original title ''Joueuse'', the feminine form of “player”) is a 2009 French-German film directed by Caroline Bottaro. It is based on the novel ''La Joueuse d’échecs'' by Bertina Henrichs.

Synopsis

The film stars

Sandrine Bonnaire Sandrine Bonnaire (; born 31 May 1967) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 40 films. She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for '' À Nos Amours'' (1983), the César Award for Best Actre ...

as a French chambermaid on the island of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

. She develops an interest in

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

. She has been cleaning the house of an American doctor (played by Kevin Kline in his first French-speaking role), and he begins helping her practice and improve. She must deal with her growing fascination with the game and with her husband and teenaged daughter.

Cast

as ''Hélène'' * Kevin Kline as ''Kröger'' *

Valérie Lagrange Valérie Lagrange (born 25 February 1942) is a French actress and singer. She starred in the 1960 adventure film ''Morgan, the Pirate''.Hughes p.39 Selected filmography * ''The Green Mare'' (1959) * ''Morgan, the Pirate'' (1960) * ''The Corsic ...

as ''Maria'' * Francis Renaud as ''Ange'' * Alexandra Gentil as ''Lisa'' * Alice Pol as ''Natalia'' * Didier Ferrari as ''Jacky'' * Laurence Colussi as ''Pina'' * Élisabeth Vitali as ''Marie-Jeanne'' * Daniel Martin as ''The President of the Chess Club'' *

Dominic Gould Dominic Gould (born 19 September 1964) is a French and American actor. He was born in Los Angeles, United States. Filmography Film * ''Jeux d'artifices'' (1987) - Stan * ''Hôtel de France'' (1987) - Manu's Friend * ''Monsieur (1990 film), ...

as ''L'Américain'' *

Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress and former teen model. She made her film debut in '' My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her role in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image A ...

as ''L'Américaine''

Awards

*2010: Special Mention for John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature

Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs International Film Festival (sometimes stylized shortly as PSIFF) is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. Originally promoted by Mayor Sonny Bono and then sponsored by Nortel,here for Table of Contents it started in 1989 ...

*2009: Official Selection

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

Release

The film had its world premiere on April 25, 2009 in both New York City and Los Angeles, at the Tribeca Film Festival and the ColCoa Film Festival respectively. The national release in France was on August 5, 2009 and in Germany on January 7, 2010. The film is distributed in the U.S. by

Zeitgeist Films Zeitgeist Films is a New York-based distribution company founded in 1988 which acquires and distributes films from the U.S. and around the world. In 2017, Zeitgeist entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with film distributor Kino Lorber. ...

and was released there on April 1, 2011.

References

External links

''Queen To Play'' at Zeitgeist Films
* *
''Queen To Play''
at Video Detective

at StudioCanal

Interview with Caroline Bottaro on indieWIRE

''Queen To Play'' Goes to Zeitgeist Films for U.S. Distribution on indieWiRE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen To Play 2000s French-language films English-language French films 2009 comedy-drama films 2009 films Films set in Corsica Films shot in Corsica Films about chess Films based on French novels Films based on German novels 2009 directorial debut films French comedy-drama films Films scored by Nicola Piovani 2000s French films