King of Hearts

Revisit a mid-60s cult classic with this restoration of King of Hearts. Set in World War I, the absurdist satire stars Alan Bates as Private Plumpick, a Scottish soldier sent into an abandoned French village to diffuse a bomb left by the retreating German army. Once there, he meets the new locals—all former residents of a nearby psychiatric asylum who’ve escaped and assumed titles and roles such as “the Duke” or “the barber.” Welcomed as the “King of Hearts” by the village’s inhabitants, Plumpick is left to weigh the collective insanity of his new friends against the madness of war just outside the town walls. Also with Geneviève Bujold. (102 mins., 4K DCP)

Restored by Technicolor for Alex Productions represented by Marina Girard-Muttelet with the support of Centre National du Cinéma in France. The restoration and the color grading work was done in 4K using the original Techniscope negative under the supervision of Pierre Lhomme AFC.