La Gloire de Mon Père [My Father’s Glory] ***** (1990, Philippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Didier Pain, Julien Ciamaca, Joris Molinas) – Classic Movie Review 9298

In a film of the greatest warmth and humanity, director Yves Robert’s 1990 French triumph La Gloire de Mon Père [My Father’s Glory] brings vividly to life on the screen Marcel (Jean de Florette) Pagnol’s memoirs of unblemished family happiness during a summer in the sun-baked Provençal countryside

It is hard to portray perfect happiness, but here it is and director Yves Robert makes it look so easy and so beguiling. Julien Ciamaca is wonderful as 11-year-old Marcel, son of a well-meaning Marseilles teacher, who takes him on annual family holidays to the countryside, where he discovers the outdoor life, his first friend (Joris Molinas), that adults lie and that holidays end.

Overflowing with glorious entertainment, gorgeous views, cinematic poetry, and sheer joy, it is so French you can smell the garlic.

The main cast are Philippe Caubère, Nathalie Roussel, Didier Pain, Thérèse Liotard, Julien Ciamaca, Victorien Delamare, Julie Timmerman, Joris Molinas, Jean Rochefort, Paul Crauchet, Philippe Uchan, Patrick Préjean, Pierre Maguelon, Michel Modo, Jean Carmet, Georges Wilson, Raoul Curet, Maxime Lombard, René Loyon and Ticky Holgado, with the voice of Jean-Pierre Darras.

Sequel in 1990: Le Château de Ma Mère [My Mother’s Castle] [The Castle of My Mother].

La Gloire de Mon Père [My Father’s Glory] is directed by Yves Robert, runs 110 minutes, is made by Gaumont, Gaumont Production, Les Productions de la Guéville, TF1 Films Productions and Centre National du Cinéma et de L’image Animée (CNC), released by Gaumont (1990) (France) and Orion Classics (1991) (US), is written by Yves Robert, Jérôme Tonnerre and Louis Nucéra, based on the novel by Marcel Pagnol, shot in Eastmancolor by Robert Alazraki, produced by Alain Poiré, scored by Vladimir Cosma and designed by Jacques Dugied.

It is shot in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône; Charleval, Bouches-du-Rhône; Grambois, Vaucluse; Pichauris, Bouches-du-Rhône; Signes, Var; and Vitrolles-en-Lubéron, Vaucluse, France.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9298

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