Director Yves Robert (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe, Pardon Mon Affaire) scores a winning pair with these adaptations of author (Jean de Florette, Manon of the Spring) and director (the Fanny trilogy, The Baker's Wife) Marcel Pagnol's autobiographical stories of his childhood. Set in turn-of-the-century France, the story begins in My Father's Glory with the birth of Marcel to Joseph (Philippe Caubere) and Augustine Pagnol (Nathalie Roussel). After briefly chronicling Marcel's toddler years, the film flashes forward to 1906 where 11-year-old Marcel (Julien Ciamaca), his parents, his younger brother Paul, and his Aunt Rose (Therese Liotard) and Uncle Jules (Didier Pain) spend a summer vacation in the hills of the Provence region in southern France. My Mother's Castle picks up where My Father's Glory leaves off, with the Pagnols returning to Marseilles, where Marcel is selected to represent his school in a scholastic contest, although his thoughts center on returning to his beloved Provence hills (eventually, the family works out an arrangement whereby they're able to travel to their summer home every weekend, greatly aided by a spare key allowing them to take a shortcut along the canal over some private estate land; the slight fear and uneasiness over the trespassing provide much of the humor of the story). While the French perhaps have an over exaggerated reputation for amore (at least if their movies are any judge), they aren't recognized often enough for the quality of their films about children, which are far more natural and realistic than their American counterparts (consider Truffaut's Small Change and The 400 Blows, or Malle's Au Revoir Les Enfants). From the gorgeous cinematography and the lush musical score down to the flawless acting and wonderful script (here's one of the better Pagnol lines: "germs were a novelty then, as Pasteur had only just invented them"), both My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle are topnotch visual odes to childhood that recall the natural curiosity and inventiveness of children. Although both discs are extra-less (besides trailers and audio options, which include French or English tracks, with English, French, or Spanish subtitles), the DVD transfers are sharp, clean, and vibrantly colorful. Both are highly recommended. (R. Pitman)
My Father's Glory; My Mother's Castle
MGM, 110 min., G, DVD: $19.98 Volume 18, Issue 2
My Father's Glory; My Mother's Castle
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