La tête en friche - La testa tra le nuvole

A man (not so young) and a woman (very old) on a bench (the standard model), a few pigeons and few books, such are the basic ingredients of "La Tête en Friche". Not much in terms of dramatic backbone, but more than it takes for Jean Becker to make one of these heart-warming movies of which he has had the secret since "Les enfants du marais" (1995).

Little-known novelist Marie-Sabine Roger has provided the director, well assisted by the veteran scriptwriter Jean-Loup Dabadie, with typical Jean Becker material : the place of the action set somewhere in the French provinces (in this case, a village in the South-West of France), ordinary people as heroes (in "La tête en friche", a local Forrest Gump-like jack of all trades, a delicious 94-year-old lady who lives in an old people's home and a bunch colorful village people) as well as a lot of heart.

It is hard indeed to remain insensitive to the two leading characters, to the birth and development of a deep friendship between them, all the more as they are embodied to perfection by two wonderful actors, bulky Gérard Depardieu (a John Blunt who, against all odds, discovers the virtues of reading) and frail Gisèle Casadesus (as his unexpected Pygmalion). The two performers form an odd but touching couple that very few audience members can resist.

Funny and touching, light but not superficial, "La tête en friche" affords the luxury of examining, without depressing the viewer, such serious subjects as illiteracy, the status of the elderly in our society, the nearness of death, the aftermath of a difficult childhood...

The only thing that could be blamed on the authors is their giving Germain (Depardieu) a young mate. It is not Sophie Guillemin's fault at all : she is marvelous in the role. Fresh, natural, even solar. She is perfect but... twice as young as her partner. Not very believable, I am afraid.

But this is only a minor shortcoming. As a whole, "La Tête en friche" is an intelligent, sensitive and enjoyable film. One more achievement for Jean Becker.

La tête en friche is a beautiful little French film based on the book by Marie-Sabine Roger and adapted for the screen by Jean-Loup Dabadie and director Jean Becker. A tale of an unexpected life change that occurs when an incidental meeting on a park bench brings together an illiterate lonely man with an elderly woman whose best friends are her books in the isolation of old age, this is truly a story of transformation and a definition of pure love.

Germain Chazes (Gérard Depardieu) grew up in an unwanted home, the brunt of teachers and classmates because they considered him illiterate, and now he is forced to lead a hand to mouth existence in a house trailer close to his now elderly, crass, alcoholic mother who still loathes him. He supports himself with odd jobs and by selling the vegetables he grows in his small garden. One day he visits his lunch spot - a park bench where he has named the 19 pigeons as his only real friends - and there he meets a very properly dressed elderly woman named Margueritte (two t 's because her father didn't know how to spell!) played by Gisèle Casadesus, who spends her days reading Camus, Proust, and other French classics aloud. They bond - Germain shares his pigeons' names and Margueritte introduces him in the most gentle manner to the joy of reading. Every day thereafter the two meet and Margueritte reads to Germain to the extent that Germain decides to learn to read despite his advanced years. Margueritte's influence changes Germain's outlook and response to the world and the ending, while sad on one level, is uplifting.

Both Depardieu and Casadesus are remarkable in their roles, never becoming caricatures but blossoming into completely warm and memorable people. The French cast is exceptional and the musical score and cinematography are as beautiful as the story they reveal.

Grady Harp

Jean Becker would never be able to make a living as a filmmaker in America. This should not be taken as a critique of him as a filmmaker, rather as a critique of America. This thought came into my mind as I sat virtually alone (with 2 others) in a 200 seat theatre, located in a booming city of over a million, on a Sunday evening, during the first week's release of his latest film MY AFTERNOONS WITH MARGUERITTE. How sad it is to see such a film virtually unnoticed here in the states. Oh well,....

The film tells the story of Germain, played very subtly by Depardieu, who is a gentle giant, a bit slow, but lovable. He lives with an abusive mother, makes a living doing odd jobs around town, spends his free time gardening and drinking with his friends, has a girlfriend whom he adores, and is very much content with his life. One day he meets Margueritte, a woman of 95, sitting alone in the park, reading and feeding the pigeons. A friendship blossoms. They have conversations, exchanging their views on life, she reads to him and even persuades him to pick up a book himself.

Marguerite is content with life, although lonely. She lives at a home for the aged, paid for by a distant relative. Germain gives her a companion, someone to share with the ups and downs of everyday life. She has seen and done much and now is ready to live out the rest of her days quietly. The ending of the film is quite wonderful and I will not spoil it for the reader. Like the ending of Becker's last widely released film CONVERSATIONS WITH MY GARDNER, it may appear to be overly sentimental. It shouldn't. It would be wonderful if more movies ended in such an upbeat way, celebrating life and the joys that simple human kindness can create.

As I try to go back over the film's many details, I find in it so much beauty and wisdom, the kind that is so much needed, but missing from modern life...

Greetings again from the darkness. It's nice to see a sweet, lovely little movie get made and distributed. The only characters are people we immediately recognize and feel like we know ... or wish we did. Based on a novel by Marie-Sabine Roger, it's directed by Jean Becker who clearly loves the characters, dialogue and message.

Gerard Depardieu stars as Germain, a giant hulking mass of man who is both likable and a bit of a target for barbs by his buddies at the café where they all hang out. Germain is the kind of guy who tends a garden of home grown veggies, and finishes his handyman work when the job is done ... even if it means he gets cheated out of a few dollars.

One day Germain meets Margueritte. Seems they both like to feed the pigeons from the same park bench. The two of them fall in love. OK, it's not quite that simple. Margueritte (Gisele Casadesus) is 95 years old and lives at a retirement center nearby. Her world consists mostly of reading books and counting pigeons. That is, until she meets Germain. Her wise, but failing eyes, recognize a wounded man. A man with a giant and kind heart. And mostly a man who is a wonderful listener. See, Margueritte READS aloud to Germain, who was mistreated as a child by his mother and teacher, and never developed any self-esteem or refined social skills. Margueritte helps him overcome through the words she reads ... and the stories he visualizes.

This simple story shows what an impact we can have on others by listening, or through a simple act of kindness. Margueritte's efforts open up the world for Germain, while his willingness to listen and care give her hope for another day. There are side stories involving Germain's mother (Claire Maurier), whom he still cares for, Germain's younger girlfriend Annette (Sophie Guillemin), and the circle of friends at the café/pub. These are all French people and full of life and emotion and judgment and caring.

Despite the shaky ending, this movie made me smile and had me hoping to spend an afternoon on the park bench with Margueritte and Germain ... reading The Plague by Albert Camus. Now that's a movie first!

A film like Jean Becker's My Afternoons with Margueritte spoils me with a lyricism found not just in a small French provincial town filled with eccentric, lovable characters but also in sentiment propelled by exquisite words found in Camus and Romain Gary. And an odd couple who find love that is sometimes not named.

In perhaps a nod to Harold and Maude, Germain (Gerard Depardieu), a 50 year old non reader, meets in the park with 90 year old Margueritte (Gisele Casadesus), who initially reads to him from Camus' The Plague. As she awakens his interest in reading, his life changes, not the least of which is finding a loving mother figure for the abusive real one. Or maybe discovering Leonard Cohen's Suzanne.

So much more is layered in this romantic story: a Cheers-like café where love and disrespect, the two poles of sentiment in the film, play out in a way that exalts the affection even in the hardest of relationships; a traditional love affair for Germain with the younger Francine (Maurane) that may turn around the story's primary January-May motif but parallels it in the deeply loving relationship that seeks to perpetuate itself.

So much of My Afternoons is about renewal and rebirth, and so little is about death that the formula for too old to be young no longer applies. Nor does my expectation to be grossed out by Depardieu's enormous girth, a sad counterpoint to his dashing younger days. But wait, his weight is perfect for the role, his lines read with such understated beauty as to shout, "Where have you been, Gerard?" The bear-like man revealing a daisy-like affect is poetically perfect for the story.

If you expect the film to follow a formula, you will be correct, except maybe for the ending which confirms the motif of unnamed love conquering all. Actually, the film makes you cry for more of the odd-couple romantic formula.

As for the transforming power of books, Abe Lincoln had a witty take on the subject: "The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who'll get me a book I ain't read." Change that to "woman" and you have My Afternoons with Margueritte.