My Father's Glory

Lyrical, enchanting, heartwarming -- those are adjectives that could be used to describe My Father's Glory, a rather innocuous film based on the late French author and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol's memoirs about growing up at the turn of the century in southern France (Like the two-part narrative of Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, which are based on Pagnol novels, My Father's Glory has a second half, which will soon be released: My Mother's Castle.) This is a likeable movie, one without any sharp edges or unsettling dimensions. And yet, it's that idyllic depiction of bourgeois life that's bothersome; there's something pointedly selective about Pagnol's memory, as if he's chosen to remember only what's pleasant to remember. (Maybe these remembrances of things past are a function of Pagnol's age (his 60s) when he wrote them and of director Robert's age (70) when he realized them onscreen.) Undoubtedly, there's something heartfelt in this string of sentimental vignettes connected by young Marcel's adoration of his schoolteacher father, a man who is a hero in his son's eyes. True, they don't make movies like My Father's Glory anymore, perhaps due to the notion that art has to have its warts. But if you can overlook that notion, you're likely to find this film… lyrical, enchanting, and -- oh, yes -- heartwarming.