Le fils de l'épicier

Maybe, the main virtue of this seductive film about family, grow up, love, customers, villages , dilemmas and happiness is its admirable freshness. It is a sort of documentary, using the rules of this genre, proposing realistic human portraits , in frame of a family life with difficulties, vulnerabilities, mistakes, secrets, selfishness and problem to exprime, in fair way yours feelings/ thoughts. Great contribution of Lilianne Rovère; nice job of Dqniel Duvql qnd; sure; difficult to ignore the precise explorqtion of nuqnces of his role by Nicolas Cazalé:

I have just been to see this film at the Glasgow Film Theatre. I had been unaware of the director's reputation as a documentary maker and I have to agree with all the earlier commentators' opinions on the filmmaker's superb feel for scenery. One could almost sense the warmth and the scents of Provence. The actors, both principal and co-opted paysannes (French country people), were natural in their roles: I have overheard the same banter between customers and stall-holders in markets throughout rural France. This film is a treat to watch and I have no hesitation in awarding it "dix points"! My only minor reservation concerns the English sub-titles: some of the wonderful French dialogue looked as if it had been translated by an adolescent. All the same, a great film.

Eric Guirado has made documentaries about the French countryside and specifically traveling tradesmen in central and southern France. Directly from that background comes this touching little fiction feature about a family that has a grocery business with a van that travels into the hills and provides daily necessities to aging country people. One of the sons, Francois (Stephan Gillian Tillié of Just a Question of Love) is a hairdresser in town. The other, Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé of Le Clan), left home years ago to live in Paris, but he returns to help out when his father (Daniel Duval) is downed by a heart attack. He stays with his mom (Jeanne Goupil). And very importantly, he brings with him a lively young woman, Claire (Clotilde Hesme, of Regular Lovers). They aren't really involved, but he is bailing her out. She is penniless, the refugee of an early failed marriage. He borrows money from his mom to make this trip, bail Claire out of her debts, and give her a peaceful place to finish her "bac" and apply to college in Spain. His own life in Paris has never jelled. He can't seem to hold a job for three months running.

Antoine pretends that he and Claire are married. And Francois, who lives elsewhere but comes by for meals, is pretending all is fine with his wife, who has left him some time ago. This isn't a family that communicates well, and Antoine left them because things weren't right; but neither was his own behavior as a youth--as we find out from Lucienne (Liliane Riviere), a feisty old lady on the van's grocery route who does not remember him with favor. Antoine also becomes more involved with Old Man Clement (Paul Clauchet), whose hen's eggs are practically all he has to offer any more. Guirado is remarkably skillful at making the constant trips in the grocery van different and reflective of changes in Antoine. Grounded in documentary technique, the film has a wealth of specific detail and never seems forced. And on top of that those in the main roles are actors with presence, anchored in center stage by the hunky, soulful Cazale and the vibrant, very French Clotilde Hesme. There is star quality here yet Cazalé, Tillié, and Duval, though you might not have known to pick them from a crowd, look very much like blood relations. That's good casting.

This is a very slight story, with some elements of too-sweet resolution, and it hardly seems likely to have much of a future as a US release. What makes it work are two things: the wealth of authentic country people who make up the secondary characters, the "customers" Antoine takes groceries to; and the fact that there are emotions here, that you care about Antoine and Francois and their dangling lives, the disgruntlement of their dad, Antoine's discovered affection for Claire, and his gradual acceptance, for the lack of anything better but because he has a basically good heart, of the idea that he might find a life in the rural world he fled from.

The Grocer's Son/Le fils de l'épicier is part of the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema at Lincoln Center, February 29-March 9, 2008. No US distributor at that time. Later limited US theatrical release starting in June 2008.

The Grocier's Son (or,'Le Fils De L'epicier')is a wonder. It's a small budgeted film that at first resembles a documentary film about a young man who returns to the village he grew up in to work his parents small grocery van,with a friend in tow. A closer look finds that it only looks that way. This loving peon to small town provincial life in the French countryside is a joy to look at. The characters are not always the nicest of folk (at least at first),but their spell works it's way into you after a while (give it time). The film is cast with (mostly) non professionals who actually live in the area. At times, I was reminded of films such as 'Local Hero',where the protagonist arrives at the destination a rather dour,grumpy sort, but is won over by the charm of the locals by film's end. I admired the films do it yourself (or D.I.Y.)look (a lot of the camera work is hand held). The use of music is minimal,relying on the natural sounds of the French countryside to weave it's magic spell on the characters in the story (not to mention the audience). Seek this one out.

Despite its very simple plot (the story of a son taking over the daily round of his sick grocer father), 'Le fils de l'épicier' qualifies as an enriching film experience.

Helmer Eric Guirado never relies on twist plots, car chases or visual effects… and yet the viewer is captivated and leaves the theater fulfilled and happy. This is no small feat, so how does the co-writer/director Guirado accomplish this object? It's easy for me to analyze how he went about it (although I guess it must have been very difficult for him to make such a thin story interesting).

What actually makes this film particularly effective is its fine blend of documentary and fiction. A real ethnographer, the director captures real life to perfection. The grocer's son's customers are real people, what they say is what everyday fellows do in everyday life. Moreover most of the people playing villagers and customers are not professional actors but true people re-enacting what they do day after day. Simple, old chaps, rarely honored by the big screen. All rings true in 'Le Fils de l'Epicier' and this all the less surprising as Eric Guirado followed three different grocers in their daily rounds for months and months before filming. He DOES know his subject and you get an impression of truth throughout.

However, supposing 'Le fils de l'épicier' had been a hardcore documentary, it might not be as exciting as it is. For what little fiction is added to the documentary aspect lives up to it and finally makes the story and the characters catch on even better.

For instance Guirado examines with impressive relevance the tense relationships in the family. He also explores convincingly the serious theme of finding one's place in life and in society. Just like the customers mentioned before, the characters are true to life and Eric Guirado, never condemning any of his characters, tries to make us understand all of them, including the most unpleasant ones. A humanistic approach Jean Renoir would have approved of. Add to this a knack for comedy. Whenever it is possible Guirado eases the tension thanks to well-timed and staged funny sequences, like the painting of the van, the crazy appearances of Lucienne, etc.) There are good professional actors too ( handsome brooding Nicolas Cazalé; refreshingly unaffected Clotilde Hesme; Jeanne Goupil, Joel Seria's former sexy muse turned plump-fifty-year-old-mother-with-a-heart-of-gold ; always unsettling Daniel Duval as the unforgiving father).

To put it in a nutshell, in 'Le Fils de l'Epicier' the documentary side enhances the fiction and vice versa. Go and see it. You won't be disappointed.