If you had maybe cherished hopes of being able to go into the first (of 2) Cannes 2015 Competition titles to be directed by a woman, and not immediately viewing the story through the prism of gender, the themes of Maïwenn's "Mon Roi" would quickly shatter those illusions. After a short prologue, the the "Polisse" director places us firmly in battle of the sexes-type territory, where we witness the first meeting of the couple whose tempestuous and and passionate relationship the film will spend the rest of its considerable runtime (130 minutes) exploring. In fact "battle" may be misleading — Tony and Georgio's whirlwind courtship and subsequent rocky marriage is more like a long, drawn-out campaign of small victories, stunning defeats, ceasefires, and long stretches of stalemate.
But that martial imagery belies Maïwenn's light touch with the material, which bubbles along engagingly, and with just enough humility and...
