King of Hearts (original French title: Le Roi de Cœur) is a 1966 French comedy-drama film directed by Philippe de Broca and starring Alan Bates.

Set in a small town in France near the end of World War I, the film takes place during World War I, but it might as well have been the Vietnamese conflict so far as its youthful “core” audience was concerned.

As the Imperial German Army retreats they booby trap the whole town to explode. The locals flee and, left to their own devices, a gaggle of cheerful lunatics escape the asylum and take over the town — thoroughly confusing the lone soldier, Charles Plumpick (Bates), a kilt-wearing Scottish soldier who is sent by his commanding officer to disarm a bomb placed in the town square by the retreating Germans.

As the fighting comes closer to the town, its inhabitants—including those who run the insane asylum—abandon it. The asylum gates are left open, and the inmates leave the asylum and take on the roles of the townspeople. Plumpick has no reason to think they are not who they appear to be—other than the colorful and playful way in which they’re living their lives, so at odds with the fearful and war-ravaged times. The lunatics crown Plumpick King of Hearts with surreal pageantry as he frantically tries to find the bomb before it goes off.

The film ends with the question of who is more insane, those in the asylum or those who create wars.

Watch the tailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSXbB1IM6A

Free to the Public