Clochemerle

I read "Clochmerle", Gabriel Chevalier's classic novel, more than forty years ago & loved it. It was achingly funny in a very French way - irreverent; very political - and I wondered how it might translate to the screen. Apart from Macha Meril, the cast is wholly unknown to me, but the acting is universally of a high standard & the absurdity of a Government almost crashing - because of the building of a Vespasienne in the Beaujolais & siting it beside the local church - is well paced, never descending into "Carry On" farce. It keeps to the original in a scrupulous fashion & retains the wonderful sense of period - 1923. I would award it a 9.