Simplet (1942) - film review

The villages of Miéjour and Rocamour exist side by side in Provence, but whilst Miéjour prospers, Rocamour is scourged by vice and pestilence.   The villagers of Miéjour owe their good fortune to Simplet, the village idiot, whose innocence, they believe, protects them from corruption.  When Simplet disgraces his community at a public event, the villagers turn against him and banish him to Rocamour.  The inevitable happens: within hours of Simplet’s departure, everything starts to go wring for the Miéjour villagers.  Desperate, they send Cigale, the woman Simplet loves, to bring him back...

Simplet paints an affectionate portrait of Provençal life, reminiscent of Marcel Pagnol’s film depiction of the French rural community in its cosy parochialism, but with the stereotypes reinforced for comic effect.  The film was directed by its star, the comic genius Fernandel, and the result is, not surprisingly, standard Fernandel fare, a whimsical morality tale with plenty of harmless tomfoolery.

This is the tale of an outsider who feigns idiocy to compensate for his inability to win the hand of the girl he loves, who is subjected to the rejection and then adulation of his fellow villagers.  Whilst the story lacks originality, the film has great charm and there are some exquisitely funny moments.  The poignant moments of the film are a little contrived but Fernandel’s disarming charm makes even this forgivable.

As in many of Fernandel’s films, the comic actor sings a song (On m’appelle Simplet... ) which went on to become a popular success. This, along with Simplet’s light-hearted suicide attempt (a comic reaction to poetical realism?), provides one of the film’s most memorable highlights.

© James Travers 2001
On m’appelle Simplet, l’innocent du village,
Doux comme un agnelet, je mène la vie d’un sage,
Chantant, gaiement, moi je vis de l’air du temps,
Je dois tout ca, aux conseils de mon papa !
Je garde son secret, c’est mon seul héritage,
Mon bonheur est complet, on m’appelle Simplet…


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