The isolated country of Bubunne is ruled by women, who treat men like toys, possessions or beasts of burden. During one of her speeches, the aged military leader - a woman, of course ! - talks about her wish to see her daughter (and successor) married. The lucky groom is to be selected during a giant ball. This news gladdens the heart of Jacky, a simple and naive young man who has been adoring the said daughter from afar...
"Jacky au royaume des filles" is set in an imaginary country ruled by women, who oppress men with a fist of iron. That selfsame country is a tyranny thriving on violence, propaganda and nonsense : for instance, the citizens have been taught to venerate horses, especially little horses. The population is kept docile through quasi-starvation, while the elite indulges in a variety of forbidden luxuries. In other words, Bubunne is a hellhole of unrelenting bleakness. It says something about the state of our world that real-life equivalents past and present immediately spring to mind : North-Korea, Romania under Communism, to name but a few. Sadly enough, Afghanistan anno 2021 is sure to develop into a prime example, with inoffensive women getting savagely punished for the crime of daring to walk from point A to point B.
As you will have guessed by now, "Jacky" is a bitter riff on the Cinderella theme : here, hundreds of eligible young men flock to the palace, hoping to be chosen by the princess. (Not realizing, by the way, that the contest has been fixed from the beginning.) "Jacky" also shoots some welcome arrows at the "People's princess" phenomenon.
The movie ends with a giant twist, which is sure to turn out very badly for both Jacky and his beloved. You'll notice how the last word heard is a shout of "Blasphemy !!"...
The movie works well, on a variety of levels. Still, a word of criticism : while I'm sure that a society oppressed by women would be quite as unpleasant as a society oppressed by men, I'm not sure that it would be unpleasant in exactly the same way. The screenwriters could have shown more imagination on this point.
"Jacky au royaume des filles" is set in an imaginary country ruled by women, who oppress men with a fist of iron. That selfsame country is a tyranny thriving on violence, propaganda and nonsense : for instance, the citizens have been taught to venerate horses, especially little horses. The population is kept docile through quasi-starvation, while the elite indulges in a variety of forbidden luxuries. In other words, Bubunne is a hellhole of unrelenting bleakness. It says something about the state of our world that real-life equivalents past and present immediately spring to mind : North-Korea, Romania under Communism, to name but a few. Sadly enough, Afghanistan anno 2021 is sure to develop into a prime example, with inoffensive women getting savagely punished for the crime of daring to walk from point A to point B.
As you will have guessed by now, "Jacky" is a bitter riff on the Cinderella theme : here, hundreds of eligible young men flock to the palace, hoping to be chosen by the princess. (Not realizing, by the way, that the contest has been fixed from the beginning.) "Jacky" also shoots some welcome arrows at the "People's princess" phenomenon.
The movie ends with a giant twist, which is sure to turn out very badly for both Jacky and his beloved. You'll notice how the last word heard is a shout of "Blasphemy !!"...
The movie works well, on a variety of levels. Still, a word of criticism : while I'm sure that a society oppressed by women would be quite as unpleasant as a society oppressed by men, I'm not sure that it would be unpleasant in exactly the same way. The screenwriters could have shown more imagination on this point.