Tolstoy wrote that "all happy
families are the same" in his story of the unhappy family of Anna Karinina;
with My Father's Glory, Marcel Pagnol gives the lie to that cynical
point of view by telling the story of a unique, interesting, and yet very happy
family. Based on Pagnol's memoirs, My Father's Glory (La gloire de
mon père) takes us to turn-of-the-century France, where little Marcel
experiences the wonders and delights of growing up. My Father's Glory is
a film that celebrates childhood without oversimplifying it, glamorizing it, or
trivializing it: in short, it's a film that celebrates and affirms life.
Told from the perspective of an
adult Marcel looking back at his childhood, My Father's Glory treats its
story with warmth and affection. It tells the story of a happy childhood with
loving parents, yet the film never becomes sappy or overly sentimental; in
fact, it's really not a sentimental film at all. The story is presented through
the eyes of the child Marcel, to whom everything is fresh, new, and
all-important, while the narrator's adult voice offers a wry perspective on the
travails of childhood.
As the title suggests, My
Father's Glory centers around Marcel's relationship with his schoolteacher
father, Joseph (Philippe Caubère) whom Marcel both loves and admires with the
intensity only a child can have. To Marcel his father is all-wise and
all-knowing, and Marcel deeply resents any implication to the contrary.
Nonetheless, the film allows us to see that Joseph is only human after all,
capable of feeling nervous on the first day of a new job, and a little
uncertain in taking up a new hobby with his new brother-in-law... but rather
than making Marcel's adoration seem unfounded, this allows us to view their
relationship with greater affection. Marcel's father is not an idol on a
pedestal: he's a real person who happens to be a loving, intelligent,
interesting human being, who is doing his best to raise his son to be the same.
While the other relationships
in the film are slightly secondary to that of Marcel and his father, they
nonetheless play an important part in Marcel's life, especially his
relationship with his beloved mother Augustine (Nathalie Roussel). I was
impressed as well by the handling of Marcel's friendship with Lili (Joris
Molinas), the country boy who befriends him when Marcel is on holiday with his
family; like so much in the film, it touches on the essential emotional
elements of friendship while, in this case, also evoking a tinge of sadness.
My Father's Glory is at
its core a joyful film, and one of the characteristics of a story that
celebrates life in this way is that it's full of humor: not jokes, but a
humorous take on life that encourages us to smile and downright laugh. It's a
warm and generous humor, in which we laugh with the characters rather than at
them, as when Marcel's mother and aunt repeatedly (and evidently with great
practice) nip in the bud any "discussion" about religion that starts between
their respective husbands, who have radically different opinions on the subject.
In one of the most amusing sequences of the film, Marcel tries to reason out
where babies come from based on a hint from a schoolmate; the resulting train
of thought is all the funnier because it is entirely logical and
well-thought-out in its own way.
My Father's Glory is the
first part of a diptych of films based on the memoirs of Marcel Pagnol, the
second being My Mother's Castle (Le château de ma mère). Pagnol also
penned the novels that were made into the films Jean de Florette and Manon
of the Spring. In My Father's Glory, director Yves Robert has
created a film that seems to bring to the screen all the depth of a
well-written novel, while at the same time being entirely suited to film. The
narrative voice is kept at a perfect balance with the events on-screen,
offering commentary and elaboration on important events, but never coming
between us and the characters. The cinematography brings a visual richness to
accompany the emotional depth of the story, capturing the mood of the moment
with close familial shots or sweeping vistas of the countryside of
Provence.
Video
MGM's "World Films" division
has presented My Father's Glory in a very attractive DVD transfer. The
film is presented in its original widescreen 1.85:1aspect ratio, and is
anamorphically enhanced. There's a small amount of edge enhancement, and the
very first scene, a soaring shot over the mountains, has a moderate amount of
noise, but the rest of the film looks great. The print is very clean, free of
both noise and print flaws, and the contrast and detail are excellent. Colors
are outstanding: My Father's Glory is a film that makes a great deal of
use of sunlight and warm, open vistas, and in this transfer we get an inviting
color palette that makes for a very pleasing viewing experience.
The film comes with optional
subtitles in French, English, and Spanish.
Audio
The soundtrack for My
Father's Glory is surprisingly robust for a Dolby 2.0 track. The sound is
full and natural-sounding, with a reasonable amount of spatial separation in
the dialogue and environmental effects. A mono English soundtrack is also
provided, but for non-French speakers I would still recommend listening to the
excellent French language track, with English subtitles turned on. French
speakers, of course, will appreciate the option of turning off subtitles
entirely.
Extras
The only extra on My
Father's Glory is a trailer for the film. Apart from that, My Father's
Glory does deserve credit for having optional subtitles, a feature that is
extremely desirable for foreign-language DVDs. The menus are straightforward
and easy to navigate, with a static movie-themed image behind easy-to-select
menu choices.
Final thoughts
My Father's Glory is a
film with tremendous heart, giving us a glimpse into a golden childhood that is
clearly nostalgic, yet never sentimental. It's a film that explores the
emotional territory of happiness, which has a depth and texture entirely
different and certainly every bit as deep and compelling as any story of
conflict. I found My Father's Glory to be entirely captivating, and I
highly recommend it.
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