Another great Daniel Auteuil film based on one of Marcel Pagnol’s early 20th-century Provence tales. This is the sequel to ‘Marius’ but you don’t need to have seen that because Marius left to go to sea at the end of it, leaving love Fanny alone and pining. Any description of the day-to-day events and tribulations that beset her would sound boring, yet the various confrontations among the characters are absolutely riveting. It’s a film to lose yourself in.
The plot is simple, a pregnant girl (Fanny) abandoned by her sailor boyfriend is married by an older man to save her reputation. The ambiance of small town France is well captured, his and her family all conspiring to keep her secret. The sub plot is the older man has always wanted a son, which eventually arrives to his delight, so what happens when the boyfriend returns ??
The second part of the great trilogy for the theatre by Pagnol is a huge improvement on the first one (Marius), which suffered from poor acting, directing and failed to make the plot believable.
However, lessons have clearly been drawn from Marius and there is never a dull moment in which every plot twist is expertly executed.
It's a real pity that there are no plans to make the final film in the series.