Film Review
Denys de La Patellière may never have been flavour of the month
with the young Turks of the French New Wave but he was appreciated by
the French cinema-going public for most of his career. His recent
demise (on 21st July of this year) gives us an opportunity to reflect
on his cinematic achievements, which are not so easily
overlooked. His wide-ranging oeuvre includes the compelling
thriller
Retour de manivelle (1957),
the ironic satire
Les Grandes familles (1958)
and, best of all, his magnificent anti-war film
Un taxi pour Tobrouk
(1960). On 16th September 1966, La Patellière
released what was to be his last quality production,
Le Voyage du père, a colour
melodrama that preceded two lesser works, the forgotten
Soleil noir (1966) and
Caroline chérie (1968),
a weak remake of a 1951 film by Richard Pottier.
Le Voyage du père is
adapted from a novel by Bernard Clavel, who did not take kindly to the
changes made by the screenwriters to his story. The film follows
a sympathetic country man (played to perfection by Fernandel) as he
undertakes a pilgrimage across some achingly beautiful rural landscapes
to the hustle and bustle of the city (Lyon). The hero's aim is to
recover his lost daughter (lost in both senses of the word) but on the
way he manages to get himself caught up in an unfamiliar world and a
shady collection of individuals. Audiences may have taken to this
bittersweet melodrama (it offers an appealing story and impressive
cast), but some critics were less than generous towards it.
Pascal Jardin's fastidious dialogue adds lustre to the performances,
but both are undermined by Georges Garvarentz's overly emphatic score,
which plays the emotional card a little too forcefully in places.
Fortunately, the film is extremely well cast, with Fernandel topping
the bill in one of his memorable dramatic roles, which calls to mind
his heartrending turns in Henri Verneuil's
La Vache et le prisonnier (1959)
and Henri Colpi's
Heureux qui comme Ulysse
(1970). In a suitably restrained performance, Laurent Terzieff
shines as the wistful teacher who supports Fernandel on his precarious
journey.
Having played Mrs Jean Gabin in an earlier Maurice Clavel adaptation by
Denys de La Patellière (
Le Tonnerre de Dieu, 1965), the
German actress Lilli Palmer is once again espoused to another icon of
French cinema, turning in a performance of rare intensity (or is she
just overacting?). In a notable supporting role, the superb
Madeleine Robinson inhabits the role of a brother owner with disturbing
ease. Michel Auclair and Philippe Noiret both bring a touch of
class in their minor but hard-to-overlook roles.
Le Voyage du père is by no
means a masterpiece but it was a hit with the public, attracting an
audience of 1.1 million on its first release. The film's recent
migration to DVD provides a treat for fans of Fernandel, who can savour
one of his last performances, at the time in his career when he was at
his best.
© Willems Henri (Brussels, Belgium) 2013
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Next Denys de La Patellière film:
Caroline chérie (1968)
Film Synopsis
The Quantins are a humble farming family who lead a mundane but contented
existence in a village not far from the border with Switzerland. At
the present time, they are mourning the absence of the eldest daughter, Marie-Louise,
of whom they have not heard a thing since she left to take up a hairdressing
job in Lyon. In the end, the Quantins become so concerned over what
may have happened to their daughter that they decide to look her up.
The father sets off for Lyon, accompanied by the village schoolmaster Frédéric,
who has aspirations of marrying Marie-Louise. After finding the hairdressing
salon where the errant daughter is supposed to be working, both men are surprised
to find that she has left this establishment some time ago. Apparently,
she now works for the
Trianon, a beauty clinic for men. This
proves to be something of a euphemism.
The profession that Marie-Louise is now engaged in is one that is as old
as time itself, and when Quantin and Frédéric pay her a visit
they are naturally mistaken for paying clients in search of a good time.
Before they know it, the two men are being carted off to the nearest police
station, charged with immoral behaviour. Once they have been set free,
Quantin and his friend waste no time in paying Marie-Louise a second visit,
but by now she has fled the scene. She is now in Paris, comfortably
settled with a rich sugar daddy. It is with a heavy heart and a broken
spirit that the old farmer returns to his home village. Unable to tell
his wife the truth, and knowing that his daughter is gone for good, Quantin
weaves a convenient fiction, impressing his wife with what a wonderful life
Marie-Louise is now leading in the City of Lights...
© James Travers
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