La tête en friche - La testa tra le nuvole

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 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.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. The story of a middle-aged man who can barely read, and doesn't enjoy it, and as a result has only odd jobs that pay little. He lives in an old trailer home in his mother's back yard, because that is all he can afford.

Then one day he meets a frail, elderly woman, who charms him by her very differences: she is a retired scientist, a highly educated and cultured woman, who has a passion for literature, which she loves to read out loud. He allows her to read to him, and becomes hooked by some great literature. It opens whole new worlds to him, and changes his life for the better. It also gives him the desire to really know how to read, and he sets about learning to do so, despite all the shame that involves for an adult man.

I liked this movie so much that I read the book on which it was based afterward. The novel, with the same title, is if anything even better than the movie. The end of the movie seems a little rushed, whereas the end of the book makes complete sense and is, I found, more satisfying.

Still, this is one very fine movie, with two great performances, by Depardieu and Gaby Casadeseus. It makes you feel good, without the mush that typifies what in the U.S. are called "feel good" movies. It would be interesting to see a good American director adapt it for American audiences.

I thought that Becker's "Dialogue avec mon jardinier" was an excellent film; but watching "La tête en friche", I think this is his master work.

Depardieu is "the" actor in the current French movie scene and I can't imagine anyone other in the role of Germain Chazes. But the film lives by the art of both protagonists: Gisèle Casadesus and Gérard Depardieu. It is hard to imagine a greater contrast than the well educated lady on the one hand and the proletarian worker who had the worst start in life one can imagine, on the other hand.

It is a very old subject which was already treated in 1668 by the novel of Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen "Simplicius Simplicissimus" where a very simple person, a shepherd, by education and learning makes career as an army officer. Nothing other is demonstrated in this movie: A simple boy (shown in the flash backs) who never had a chance to become an educated person, gets the chance to learn due to the caring of an old lady and becomes all of a sudden a different person.

He notices the the problems of his surrounding and even understands his mother in the end - who always treated him mean during her lifetime.

This is a very moving film which gives hope that people and persons can be changed in their behavior by much love and understanding of their surroundings.

An excellent performance of Gisèle Casadesus (at the age of 96 years!) and Gérard Depardieu.

I voted 10 of 10 points.

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...