Main Cast: Philippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Didier Pain, Therese Liotard, Julien Ciamaca
Release Year: 1990
Country: FR
Run Time: 110 minutes
Plot
This 1990 French film presents idyllic episodes from the childhood of novelist and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974). Together, the episodes present a portrait of an ordinary family with an extraordinary ability to love. Set in Provencal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the film first introduces members of the family, including Marcel (Julien Ciamaca). When he is still a preschooler, his father Joseph, a teacher, takes him to classes to watch over him. Marcel, however, learns along with the other children and starts to read out loud in class. Astonished, Joseph (Philippe Caubère) writes a sentence on the blackboard and asks, "What does that say?" Marcel, reading the words, says, "The father is proud of his little boy." This little scene establishes the tone and meaning of the film. Flashing ahead seven years, the camera then follows the Pagnols after they leave Marseilles for a summer vacation in the Provencal countryside, there to bask in the simplicity of rural life. From then on, it is not what happens to the family that engages audiences; it is how it happens -- with a quiet exuberance and joie de vivre. Besides Marcel and his father, the vacationers include his mother, Augustine (Nathalie Roussel), a beautiful and kindly homemaker; Marcel's little brother Paul (Victorien Delamare); and his Uncle Jules (Didier Pain) and Aunt Rose (Thérèse Liotard). After they arrive at their cottage, 11-year-old Marcel wastes no time wading into the greenery in search of adventure. What he finds is another adventuresome boy, Lili de Bellons (Joris Molinas), a native of the region. They become friends and fellow explorers, capturing cicadas, climbing rocks, and even invading an eagle's cave. Sometimes they just have fun shouting to hear an echo boomeranging back. At meal times -- often outdoors -- fresh fruit and good-natured repartee satisfy appetites. For spectator sport, the diners listen to the occasional religious arguments between Uncle Jules, a God-fearing Catholic, and Joseph, a God-doubting agnostic. Augustine and Aunt Rose avoid the polemics, for they have more important matters on their minds: keeping house, watching children, and planning the next day's menu. And then the film takes a turn toward real drama. Uncle Jules, full of tales about his prowess as a hunter, persuades Joseph, full of ignorance about guns and hunting, to go on a bird hunt. Woe is Papa, Marcel thinks. When the day of the great hunt arrives, Marcel secretly follows Joseph and Uncle Jules into the woods, setting the stage for the film's climactic moment. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Review
Based on the memoirs of author and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974), this 1990 motion picture reinforces a universal truth: Life's simple pleasures are the best, especially when shared with family and friends. It also proves that a modest, low-tech movie can succeed financially (the film racked up millions at the box office) as long as it focuses on the most interesting subject of all: people. Although the film recounts episodes from Pagnol's childhood, it is really about everyone's childhood -- carefree days when the world is new and each sunrise brings another adventure. After an introduction that acquaints the audience with the Pagnols and their early life in Aubagne, St. Loup, and Marseilles, the story moves to the Provençal countryside, where the family has taken a cottage for the summer vacation. Julien Ciamaca portrays 11-year-old Marcel with charm and vitality as he meanders through forest pathways or spends a quiet moment with his schoolteacher father, Joseph (Philippe Caubère), or housewife mother Augustine (Nathalie Roussel). After Marcel makes friends with a Provençal country boy named Lili des Bellons (Joris Molinas), they roam forests and fields to discover butterflies, birds, cicadas, secret caves, and the gentle warmth of a breeze. Skillful cinematography captures them in silhouette gazing toward the horizon and follows them clambering up rock faces and careering down hillsides. At dinnertime outside, the family sits at a table full of orchard-fresh fruit and other local fare as the sun dims and conversation brightens. A cross word never passes the lips of any Pagnol or their two guests, Marcel's Uncle Jules (Didier Pain) and Aunt Rose (Thérèse Liotard). Unrealistic? Sentimental? Perhaps. But nostalgia is always that way. Blind to the bad, it sees only the good. Pagnol himself had good reason to remember his childhood fondly, for his mother -- portrayed as loving and indulgent -- died when he was only 15. The shock must have made him long for those earlier days when all was right with the world. His father lived on for a long time, however, and it is he who gives Marcel -- and the audience -- one of the vacation's most memorable moments as the film moves toward its conclusion. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Victorien Delamare - Paul, Age 5; Joris Molinas - Lili des Bellons; Paul Crauchet - Edmond Des Parpaillouns; Raoul Curet - Monsieur Vincent; Jean-Pierre Darras - Marcel; Benjamin Detriche - Paul, Age 3; Victor Garrivier - Parish Priest; Maxime Lombard - Monsieur Arnaud; Michele Loubet - Mlle. Guimard, l'Institutrice; Rene Loyon - Monsieur Besson; Pierre Maguelon - Francois; Benoit Martin - Marcel, Age 5; Michel Modo - Postman; Jean Rougerie - Bergougnas, Secondhand Dealer; Gerard Moulevrier; Louis Lalanne
Credit
Guy Azzi - Art Director, Marc Goldstaub - Art Director, Agnes Negre - Costume Designer, Yves Robert - Director, Pierre Gillette - Editor, Vladimir Cosma - Composer (Music Score), Jacques Dugied - Production Designer, Robert Alazraki - Cinematographer, Alain Poiré - Producer, Lucette Andréi - Screenwriter, Yves Robert - Screenwriter, Jerome Tonnerre - Screenwriter, Marcel Pagnol - Book Author
Young Marcel was born in the country but raised in Marseille. His father, Joseph, is a hard-working strongly atheist public school teacher in Marseilles. Marcel's Aunt Rose marries the round, jovial, and very theistic and Roman Catholic Uncle Jules. Joseph and Uncle Jules come into conflict over religion.
Over summer break, Joseph and Jules decide to take their respective families to a house in the country. Here, Jules decides to educate Joseph on hunting. Marcel wants to come hunting with them, but the two adults lie to him and leave the house while he is still just waking up. He follows them stealthily. Jules is making a fool out of Joseph with his hunting prowess which angers Marcel. He gets lost in the wilderness when Marcel meets a boy called Lili who tells him where the hunting party are. Joseph takes potshots at two rock partridges which fall to ground beside Marcel. He watches as Jules reprimands Joseph for shooting at and missing the birds. At this point, Marcel reveals himself and the partridges.
Later, Lili, who knows everything about the countryside, becomes Marcel's friend and teaches him about the ways of the countryside.
