Le Château de ma mère (1990) - film review

Having spent last summer in the mountains of Provence, 19th century schoolboy Marcel longs to return to his country retreat with his family.  To his joy, his father agrees to a short stay during Christmas and Easter.  Then, the family decides to do the same every weekend, even though it means an 8 kilometre trek on foot to get there.  A kindly lock keeper provides them with a shortcut, even though it means breaking the law.  The following spring, Marcel meets a girl in his mountains, and discovers his first love...

Following from the superlative "La Gloire de mon père", this film continues the telling of a young boy’s love affair for the French provincial countryside.   Whilst the two films are very similar, it is interesting how well "Le Château de ma mère" manages to capture a subtle growth in maturity in its central character, the schoolboy Marcel. In this film, Marcel is able to see through pretence and deceit, and has a slightly more acute appreciation and good and evil – even though the characters are still, from an adult perspective, very much like caricatures.

Whereas "La Gloire de mon père" is charged with an almost nauseating sense of optimism and boyish wonder, there is a distinctly melancholic streak running through "Le Château de ma mère", which culminates in an acutely sad and very effective ending.

Undeniably the best thing about this film – as in its predecessor – is the stunningly evocative photography.  With a fine musical score and some excellent characterisation, this plays very effectively on the senses and lends the film an unbelievably powerful emotional impact.  Although the tragic ending is mercifully short (if it were not so it might well have descended to cheap sentimentality), it really does deliver a tremendous jolt.

This film is pure poetry of a very high order – and a beautiful film to experience.  When so much of cinema reflects the worst in human nature it is a real pleasure to come across a film which shows us a more positive, less cynical, view of life.


© James Travers 2000

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?