(Two Films about Delusions) by Luanne Paul King

Delusions of Grandeur (La Folie des Grandeurs)

SKD USA brings us this 1971 French comedy directed by Gérard Oury. Starring Louis de Funès and Yves Montand, the story is a parody of Victor Hugo’s tragic drama Ruy Blas, which is set in 17th century Spain.

Don Salluste (Louis de Funès) is a culpable minister of finance who is hated by many, including the Queen. She persuades the King to banish Salluste from the royal court and exile him to the countryside. To get revenge, Salluste enlists his valet Blaze (Yves Montand) to impersonate the long-lost Prince Cesar, romance the Queen, and create a scandal. In the act of ingratiating himself with the Queen, Blaze truly falls in love with her. In turn, the Queen is enamored by the pretender. Don Salluste returns to the court in disguise to arrange hidden quarters for the lovers. A rebel courtier gives him a timed explosive hidden in a velvet pillow. When Salluste hears ominous ticking he warns people and throws the pillow aloft. An explosion and bedlam ensue.

Especially wonderful are the movements and expressions of actor Louis de Funès. They earned him the reputation as “the man who can have forty faces per minute.” As dual leads, Louis de Funès and Yves Montand deliver effortless slapstick. Lavish, beautiful costumes, authentic period-piece production designs and timeless satire about human foibles give us an unparalleled absurdist comedy.

Recent DVD release. Not rated; contains sex-related dialogue. French and English. Subtitled in English. 103 minutes.

Frozen River (and the delusion of safe borders)

First-time director Courtney Hunt’s feature film is an unflinching tale of two women, who, driven by economic hardship, form an unlikely partnership smuggling illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Canadian border.

Ray (Melissa Leo) is a struggling part-time dollar-store cashier and mother of two sons; she lives in a tiny trailer home in upstate New York. Her gambling-addicted husband has run off with the family’s down payment on a new trailer, and her life quickly spirals into a financial tailspin. Looking frantically for her deadbeat husband, she apprehends Lila (Misty Upham), a Mohawk Indian from a nearby Indian reservation, who is attempting to steal her car. While taking back her vehicle, Ray learns that Lila smuggles illegal immigrants through an uncontrolled corridor within Mohawk territory — the frozen St. Lawrence River that forms part of the U.S. border with Canada. The river ice is treacherous, but Lila thinks she knows where it’s navigable for a car. At first Ray isn’t interested in smuggling, but she’s down to feeding popcorn and Tang to her sons.

Watching this film, we’re concerned about the well-being of two disparate women. Social questions about the law on Indian reservations conflicting with U.S. government laws hover in the background. But what we care about most is the story beautifully told by Courtney Hunt and the film’s believable actors.

Rated R. 1 hour 37 minutes. Winner of 2008 Sundance Grand Jury Prize:   Dramatic.