Merlusse (1935)
Directed by Marcel Pagnol

Film Review

Merlusse was the first film to be made by Marcel Pagnol that he wrote especially for the screen.  All of Pagnol's previous films had been adaptations, of either his stage plays or well-known novels.   A heart-warming tale that shows us the true meaning of Christmas, Merlusse differs markedly from most French-made dramas of the time, both in its austere presentation and in its almost total lack of sentimentality.  Most strikingly, it has a trenchant realism that comes from Pagnol's decisions to employ non-professional actors for the child roles and to shoot the film on location at a real school in Marseilles.  The central character in the drama, the disfigured Merlusse, may have been partly based on Pagnol's own father, who was a schoolmaster known for his selflessness and acts of kindness.

Marcel Pagnol's cinema is most characterised by its naturalism and humanity, and Merlusse shows these qualities in abundance.  There are of course similarities with Jean Vigo's Zéro de conduite (1932); both films convincingly depict the brutality of school life, as experienced by both pupils and teachers alike, in the 1930s.  But whereas Vigo's film is fantastic, perhaps naive, in suggesting that revolution is needed to improve things, Pagnol's is more reasonable, showing that simple gestures of kindness are enough to make a happier world.   Despite its technical imperfections (the sound quality is poor even for the standards of the time) Merlusse is an engaging film that, thanks to its warmth and simplicity, has a timeless appeal.

Film Synopsis

The undisciplined pupils at a boarding school in the south of France have a habit of giving their teachers a hard time.  The main target of their evil sense of humour is poor Monsieur Blanchard, a teacher they nickname Merlusse on account of his very peculiar odour.  His eccentric appearance makes him a ready object of ridicule, and it doesn't help that his teaching methods are hopelessly out of date.  As far as teachers go, he is a sitting duck for boyhood malice.  One Christmas, as most of their classmates make a hasty departure to spend the holidays with their families, four boys are left behind, grimly contemplating the prospect of spending the yuletide season under the watchful eyes of their teachers.  They repay Merlusse's idiotic strictness by playing cruel practical jokes on him.  The unruly pupils soon regret their misbehaviour when their teacher offers them each a Christmas present.  It is a gesture of kindness that touches their hearts, and immediately they see their detested Merlusse in a whole new light...