Well, I am going to make an exception to one of pet peeves. I generally hate movies that make everything pretty and fake, but this movie proved me wrong.
My Mother's Castle is an auto-biographical tale from director Marcel Pagnol, born in 1895. As a boy he loved the hills of Provence, where his family spent their holidays, and he was desperate to spend more than just vacations there. His mother understood, and figured out a way to get to Provence more often, and his father agreed. In this family, all is smiles, or at least compassion, all the time. I never saw the children dirty as they ran around the hills, or the country house full of spiders with a tipped over outhouse. Nevertheless, this movie is a charming memoir. There is a second piece, My Father's Glory, which is on its way. I'll let you know, but if it's like this one, I'll be happy.
A word on Monsieur Pagnol. He was the first French director to be elected into the French Academy. He was on the jury at Cannes three times. He wrote Jean de Fleurette and Manon of the Spring as well as many other films. It looks like he stopped directing in the 60's.
No comments:
Post a Comment