MY AFTERNOONS WITH MARGUERITTE – The Review

Film fans have been enchanted by cinema small towns like Bedford Falls in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( and of course TV fans will always adore the charms of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW’s Mayberry ) for many years. Well, let’s hop across the pond and spend some time in a mellow little village over in France. This is the setting of a sweet little love story called MY AFTERNOONS WITH MARGUERITTE that begins with a chance encounter between two villagers with very little in common, but who soon are able to fill a void in each other’s lives.

We first meet the younger, male half of the duo during the film’s opening titles. Chazes Germain ( Gerard Depaedieu ) is a middle aged, lumbering, good natured jack-of-all-trades known to most everyone in the little town. He frequently hangs out at a local tavern ( you almost expect them to yell Chazes upon his entrance ala’ Norm in TV’s ” Cheers” ), shares his bed with his lover, the much younger bus driver Annette ( Sophie Guillemin ), and tends to his vegetable garden ( he sells his crops at a local farmers’ market ) in the back yard of the home of his now senile ( but still abrasive ) mother ( Chazes lives in a trailer outside the house ). His life changes radically when he meets a sprightly septuagenarian named Margueritte ( Gisele Casadesus ) at a bench in the town park. She lives at a nearby retirement center and enjoys reading in the fresh air. Her reading aloud sparks a passion for literature in Chazes. In flashbacks we see young Chazes belittled by a bullying teacher as he struggles to read to the class. She even gives him her dictionary as a present. Unfortunately Marguritte’s family cannot afford her apartment at the center and may have to move in with them in Brussels. This, along with news from Annette, prompts Chazes to make some decisions that will change his life.

Spending some time in that park with these two is a nice change of pace from some of the loud, bombastic recent cinematic offerings. Much of the charm that has made Depardieu a French movie icon is well displayed here. Chazes may be thick ( in body and intellect ), but he is a kind, gentle soul. Unfortunately he has a talent for saying the wrong things ( especially when he tries to console the tavern owner who has lost her much younger lover ). This makes the flashback scenes so heartbreaking . Not only do we have the dour school scenes I’ve mentioned, but we see the horrific physical and verbal abuse he endured from his frustrated single mother ( father was out of the picture after conception). Although well into adulthood Chazes still yearns for a nurturing parental figure. The kind, caring, patience Margueritte fulfills his needs. She also becomes an encouraging teacher that opens up the door to knowledge that was slammed shut by the local school. There’s lots of small laughs along with the pathos. Chazes’s conversation with a cat is particularly lovely. MY AFTERNOONS WITH MARGUERITTE is an endearing modern fable that shows how an act of kindness can cause a ripple effect and bless everyone it touches.

Overall Rating: Four  Out of Five Stars