Has anyone been exposed to this Gallic genius from the first half of the 20th century. He was a novelist, playwright, screenwriter and director, but most of all he was a wonderful storyteller. Long after his death, he was popular in the 80s and 90s with the films "Jean de Florette", "Manon of the Spring", "My Father's Glory" and "My Mother's Castle", all highly-recommended.

Back in his own day, there were movies made from his "Marseille Trilogy": "Marius", "Fanny" and "Cesar", as well as clasics like "Harvest" and "The Baker's Wife." Of course in the 50s, his trilogy was turned into the Broadway musical "Fanny" which was later turned into the non-musical film romance "Fanny" in 1961.

I hope this thread doesn't die since they don't seem to make 'em like they used to. Has anyone seen or read any of Pagnol?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

I have, of course you already know that though.

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Originally posted by Ginny:
I have, of course you already know that though.

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Yeah, but which ones and what do YOU think of them?

Wow, I haven't thought about Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring for ages. The French teacher (who was German) at my high school showed them in class and everyone loved them, so they made their friends watch them, so strangely, those movies were very popular at my high school.

A friend of mine visited France after watching them and as a joke she tried to call some goats like Manon, and when she did the goats all started running towards her, and she got scared and ran away.

Anyway, really beautiful movies. I should rent them again.

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Originally posted by KT:
Wow, I haven't thought about Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring for ages.
Anyway, really beautiful movies. I should rent them again.

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As always, KT, it's nice to hear some personal references to the thread. I agree you should rent them again, but I REALLY think you should watch "My Father's Glory" and "My Mother's Castle"( in that order) first. They are also REALLY beautiful. "My Father's Glory" is my wife's favorite film.

Well, then I will definitely have to check them out. I think I'll go see if netflix has them.

Even in Europe, he's still not deservedly recognised in terms of public acceptance.

He was one of those one-man-show , do-it-all kind of European art people from the 1940s 50s and 60s (like some Noel Coward or Sacha Guitry).

I've read MARIUS and seen the fabulous THE BAKER'S WIFE.