La Gloire de mon père (1990) - film review

This film recounts the early childhood years of a French film director, Marcel.  Growing up in the south of France in a happy family environment, he is the son of a primary school teacher.  One summer, the family sets out for a long holiday in a villa in rural Provence.  Here, Marcel makes friends with a local boy, Lili, with whom he explores the wild countryside, and witnesses his father’s glory during a game hunt.

In this film and its immediate sequel, Le château de ma mère, director Yves Robert paints beautiful and moving picture of French provincial life at the turn of the century. The boy in the film,  Marcel, is none other than the great film director and writer, Marcel Pagnol, on whose autobiographical novel this film is based – but the viewer does not need to appreciate that fact to enjoy the film.

The central star of the film is the amazing Provence countryside.  The photography manages to capture the beauty of the setting perfectly – the opening title sequence, with some stirring musical accompaniment is particularly effective at drawing the audience into another world, another time.  Perhaps the most visually impressive part of the film is the sequence where the two boys, Marcel and Lili, are sheltering from a storm in a cave.  We share their marvel at the beauty of the lightning storm raging above the open mountainous countryside.

Although well-intentioned, the film is occasionally let down by some tacky sentimentality.  Marcel’s frequent gushes of unbridled delight at his father’s minor victories over his uncle are slightly overdone, lacking conviction and leaving a nasty taste in one’s mouth.  Fortunately, the film manages to offset these sugar-sweet moments with some pleasing boyish humour (such as Marcel’s curiosity about where babies come from).

Despite the mildly irritating sentimentality, this is probably slightly the better of the two films.  However, having watched this film, its sequel, Le château de ma mère is all the more enjoyable – and moving.

© James Travers 2000

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