Marcel Pagnol is best known in North America for Jean de Florette and Manon des sources, both successfully filmed in the 1980s by Claude Berri. But his first memoir — written when the veteran playwright and filmmaker was 62 — was this idyllic evocation of his childhood in Provence in 1905, when he was ten or 11 years old.
This is a rare film in which there’s virtually no dramatic conflict, and yet it’s as entrancing as a soft breeze on a warm summer’s day. Pagnol loved and respected his parents, and looked back on his childhood with an enviable serenity. If there’s an element of nostalgia, well, why not? Director Yves Robert (The War of the Buttons) filmed the rolling mountains of Provence in the manner of an Impressionist painter of the era, and watching the movie is like stepping into a canvas by Cezanne.
Movie theatres usually discourage talking but our latest series is designed to encourage it — before and after (not during) the show. Aimed at film lovers 55+ (but open to all), Talking Pictures offers audience-friendly festival films, refreshments, and an open invitation to chat about our shared experience of the movie. Tickets are just $10. Bring a buddy and get two tickets for $16!
My Father’s Glory creeps up on you with small moments of warmth and charm. Like all the best movies, these memories of Marcel Pagnol work by becoming our memories, as well.
Roger Ebert
Yves Robert
Philippe Caubère, Julien Ciamaca, Nathalie Roussel
France
1990
In French with English subtitles
Best Foreign Film, National Board of Review
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Credits
Screenwriter
Jérôme Tonnerre, Louis Nucéra, Yves Robert
Cinematography
Robert Alazraki, Christophe Beaucarne, Eric Vallée, Paco Wiser
Editor
Pierre Gillette
Original Music
Vladimir Cosma
Production Design
Jacques Dugied
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