Few recent movies seem quite as alive as the latest by French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin. Informed by a restless energy and an audacious need to surprise, it would seem hopelessly showy if it weren't so intoxicating. Having made its original appearance on the festival circuit in 2004 and been released in the States last year, Kings and Queen nearly matched A History of Violence and 2046 in the Film Comment and Village Voice polls in 2005. Cinematheque Ontario's screenings this weekend will hopefully expand its cult. Emmanuelle Devos plays Nora, a single mother who becomes torn between the demands of the many men in her life, most notably her father, a terminally ill famous author, and her ex-lover Ismaël (Mathieu Amalric), a classical musician whose erratic behaviour lands him in a mental institution. Though the film initially presents Nora as the epitome of feminine patience, Desplechin ultimately upends this impression, along with every preconception you might have about the characters. Much like poor Ismaël, Desplechin's whole enterprise teeters on the edge of collapse yet consistently amazes for its ingenuity and generosity of spirit. The director's achievement may even be as majestic as the title suggests.