andy van cleve a very fun filled movie for the whole family. it is a story about two boys growing up in France and they have to learn about life. the one boy is named Marcel and most6 of the story is based on his life. there are many scenes that will get to your heart. this is a great movie for the kids but parents beware there is a little bit of innocent frontal and full nudity on the boys in one scene where they are taking a shower by hose out in front of the house they are living in and once again there is only partial nudity form two boys when they come in after a rain storm and you see their naked butts running up the stairs. nothing to be worried about though. it is all part of being a boy and growing up. the cinematography in this movie is wonderful and should definitely appreciated in this movie.

shneur This is a cinematic rendition of the first volume of Joseph Pagnol's memoir, directed by his friend Yves Robert and set at the turn of the 20th Century. The primary relationship it depicts is between a young boy, Marcel, played by Julien Ciamaca, and his schoolteacher father. It's a loving one, but to us strangely distant and formal, we might say "Victorian." The boy seems a bit old to still accept the lies told him regarding sex and reproduction: I didn't know the French were ever that prudish! Marcel is at an age where he deeply admires his father, yet has begun to see through the hollow pretensions of all adults. The title is perfectly chosen to encapsulate his conflict. In the course of his summer holiday in the countryside, Marcel meets a lovely friend, Lili, of whom I would have liked to see more (and who certainly would have set him right about the "facts of life". Sadly, both boys appear to have acted only in this film and its sequel, "Le Château de ma Mere."

bouncingoffwall This film takes us back to 1900 and depicts a family with children who are refreshingly innocent, yet believable and amusing every step of the way. The story takes us on a journey with Marcel, the narrator, who thinks his father is superhuman and refuses to see him as anything less. To view life through Marcel's eyes is enchanting; he is so easily spellbound by his surroundings, so in love with the hills of his native Provence.The cinematography is absolutely breath-taking, giving one the feeling of watching poetry in motion. The scene at the park on a Sunday afternoon is like watching a painting come to life. But cinematography is only a feather on the cap of this first rate production. The direction is superb, and the performances very touching. I recommend this film highly. It is good as a visual sedative, and the only side effect it might have is a possible urge to quit your job, pack it up, and move to the French countryside writer Marcel Pagnol so loved.

dbdumonteil Marcel Pagnol always wanted to adapt for the screen his childhood memories that he related in 4 novels. Unfortunately, he died without he made his plan. So, it was one of his friends, Yves Robert who undertook to make the coveted movie and the result turns out to be very convincing. Yves Robert's movie restitutes perfectly the atmosphere of Pagnol's book and he made a tender, hearty movie, lulled by Vladimir Cosma's nonchalant music where the shiny sun and sky of Provence reply to the wild beauty of the hills. These hills will make the little Marcel's enchantment. Thanks to a fluid making, Robert films the happiness and the naïvety of childhood with a certain impishness. Besides, Robert always enjoyed filming childhood like Truffaut and we particularly rediscover the quoted impishness in one of his movies: "la guerre des boutons". Robert introduces us the Pagnol's family and shows liking towards his characters. More than Marcel's character, these are his feelings towards his family which Robert tries to define, especially the pride towards his lucid and ambitious father (excellent Philippe Caubère) after his hunting achievement. Moreover, he loves tenderly his mother but tends to despise his uncle. He blames him for being a liar and a conceited person. At the end, a limpid movie that remembers with nostalgia of a past era. Pagnol would certainly have appreciated the result. If the movie introduces a bitter end, it depicts the last picture as something symbolic: " the glory of Marcel's father".