After Faranguisse (Maria de Medeiros) becomes enraged at her musician husband Nasser-Ali (Mathieu Amalric) for failing to take care of his children, she takes his violin and smashes it. Nasser-Ali then goes on a quest to find a new violin, but after purchasing a Stradivarius and attempting to play it, he realizes that he has lost his will to play and therefore to live. After contemplating various methods of suicide he finally decides to take to his bed and simply die there.
While in bed, he reflects on his life and images from his past and future play out before him. In a vision of the future his eldest daughter Lili marries a man her mother approves of, divorces him, and then has a passionate affair with an actor. After the actor dies of a heart attack Lili smokes, drinks and becomes addicted to gambling, eventually suffering three heart attacks and finally dying after the third. His younger son, meanwhile, ends up in America with multiple children and becomes a grandfather after his overweight daughter goes to the hospital with stomach pains and gives birth to a son she names Jimmy-Nassar.
In the midst of his attempts to die, Faranguisse, finally concerned, cooks Nasser-Ali his favourite dish of chicken with plums. It is revealed that Faranguisse was in love with Nasser-Ali from the time she was a child, and waited for him as he became a famous musician and toured the world. Upon his return, his mother (Isabella Rossellini) pressured him into marrying Faranguisse. Faranguisse attempts to feed Nasser-Ali the chicken with plums but he rejects it, reiterating that he will never forgive her for destroying his violin.
Chicken with Plums (French: Poulet aux prunes) is a 2011 internationally co-produced dramatic film directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud. It is based on the graphic novel of the same name. The film premiered in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival on 3 September 2011. It was released in France on 26 October through Le Pacte.
Chicken with Plums (2012)
Directed by: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Éric Caravaca, Chiara Mastroianni, Mathis Bour, Enna Balland, Rona Hartner, Isabella Rossellini
Screenplay by: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud
Production Design by: Udo Kramer
Cinematography by: Christophe Beaucarne
Film Editing by: Stéphane Roche
Costume Design by: Madeline Fontaine
Set Decoration by: Bernhard Henrich
Music by: Olivier Bernet
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some drug content, violent images, sensuality and smoking.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: June 15, 2012
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