Heureux qui comme Ulysse...

The ending of an extraordinary career which began at the beginning of the talkies ....He worked with the best directors (Christian-Jaque,Julien Duvivier,Marcel Pagnol,Autant-Lara,Becker..) and with the not-so-great but estimable ones (Verneuil,Grangier..) but he always remained himself ,Fernandel.All he had to do was act naturally.

Henri Colpi has made few movies."Une Aussi Longue Absence " was a beautiful film ,some kind of "Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles" with more elegance,modesty and emotion.Some consider "Codine" filmed in Romania his best.Probably deservedly so.

"Heureux qui comme Ulysse " (the title of which is borrowed from an eponymous Joachim Du Bellay poem from the sixteenth century) tells the story of an old horse,not able to work on a farm anymore .Next stop is the Arles arenas ,in other words ,death.The farmhand (Fernandel) who 's got to take the animal there decides to rebel against his boss's inhuman decision.

People who like Provence will love the magnificent landscapes (Saint-Rémy -de Provence,les Baux ,la Camargue).And there's also a moving song by Georges Brassens which superbly enhances the film.Should appeal to the whole family.

This was Fernandel's last film; he was to die not long after its release. A simple story of a man and his old horse, with a loving portrait of life in Provence, this is a very moving film indeed. Antoine arranges to deliver his horse Ulysse to the picador in Arles, to be used in bullfights. But his heart is not in it; he remembers too many incidents from the past (like Spencer Tracy in The Old Man and the Sea).

In Arles, he takes the horse away after watching another horse getting gored... The grace and subtlety of Fernandel's performance is impressive. Thanks to Télé-Québec for including this in their Fernandel series.

An old farmhand wants to save his old horse from being gored in the bull ring. He leaves everything to lead Ulysse, the horse, to the safety and freedom of the Camargue National Park. Beautiful images, excellent acting, with a little bit of comedy thrown in and music by the great Georges Brassens.