Search - My Father's Glory on DVD

Lavish, Beautiful, and Sentimental

Timothy Kearney | Hull, MA United States | 07/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My Father's Glory is the first of two films dealing with the novelist/filmmaker Marcel Pagnol's childhood. The film really does not have a plot. Marcel's parents Joseph, a beloved school teacher, and his mother Augustine, a dressmaker meet, fall in love, and get married. Soon afterward Marcel is born, as is his brother and sister. Marcel's family, along with his Uncle Jules and Aunt Rose, vacation in the South of France, and his father wins a hunting contest. On the surface there is not much to hold the film together. Yet the plot of the film is not what makes it so worthwhile. The film's chief strength is the way that each character is developed. We can see that Joseph is a good and descent man, a masterful teacher, and most especially a devoted father and husband. Young Marcel idolizes his father, and wants all others to realize the father's great qualities. The father is not perfect, and Marcel has questions about his doubt of all things religious. Marcel admires his mother as well, who is a nurturing and caring soul. The other major characters are both richly developed and varied.The setting of the film is sumptuous. The small French town where Marcel and his family hail from seems realistic and the viewer can feel as if he/she has stepped back in time. The music adds to the film and perfectly blends with the scenes and characters.Some may feel that the film is too saccharinely sweet. This can be an easy dismissal of a film that is unashamedly lavish, nostalgic, and sentimental. Such critics are wrong, however. The film shows Pagnol's appreciation for his parents, and how their good qualities played such a significant role in the man he would later be."

Childhood holidays in the hills of Provence

eguisheim | 07/07/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"La gloire de mon pere and its sequel, Le chateau de ma mere are two of those wonderful Sunday afternoon type films that bring back sun-filled days of childhood secrets and adventures. This is Marcel Pagnol's homage to the south of France and the family he loved so dearly. The opening music is dreamy and bittersweet as it perfectly captures the nostalgia that the aged narrator conveys in his voice-overs of his childhood escapades. We follow an adorably young Marcel, his proud, school-teacher papa, Joseph, and his sweet, lovely mother, Augustine, through the birth of his brother Paul, their move to Marseilles, and then on to their summers in the hills of Provence. There, Marcel's heart is forever captured by the song of the cicadas, the smell of wild thyme and lavender, and the pursuit of what lies over the next hilltop. I was charmed by scenes of French school days at the turn of the last century, and Marcel's longing for the holidays and their promise of fun with his steadfast friend, Lili. You too will be delighted by jolly Oncle Jules and promenades in Parc Borély. But most of all, you will be touched by this sensitive and serious young boy who shows such love and loyalty to his father and mother."

Charming and uplifting

alan posner | East Lansing, MI USA | 07/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a beautiful film! This is one of those films where everything works. The visuals are beautiful, the script spare and heartfelt, and the characterizations profound. Can Americans make films like this; where there is warmth and nostalgia but where the humor and the modesty keep sentimentality under control? Forget irony and cliches...this is wonderfully real and exciting."

A perfect movie! I read the book - movie was as good!

Craig Kurath | Portland Oregon | 10/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A wonderful movie about a loving family in a simpler time in the South of France. It's not very often that a G-rated movie comes along that the entire family will enjoy over and over.I read the book and then bought several copies for my friends and relatives. One evening, I was at one of our local art movie houses and there it was: A poster advertising the arrival of "My Father's Glory." No one in the theater staff knew anything about it. It played in Portland for six months on word of mouth. Enough said."