Marius et Jeannette (1997)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Robert Guédiguian

Writers:

Jean-Louis Milesi (scenario and dialogue) and
Robert Guédiguian (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

5 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Marius is the keeper of an abandonned cement works staying high above the quarter of l'Estaque in Marseilles...

Plot Keywords:

Working Class | Humanist | Unemployment | Marseilles France | Tongue In Cheek

Awards:

6 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Ariane Ascaride	...	Jeannette
Gérard Meylan	...	Marius
Pascale Roberts	...	Caroline
Jacques Boudet	...	Justin
Frédérique Bonnal	...	Monique
Jean-Pierre Darroussin	...	Dédé
Laetitia Pesenti	...	Magali, Jeannette's Daughter
Miloud Nacer	...	Malek, Jeannette's son
Pierre Banderet	...	Monsieur Ebrard
Monique Meylan	...	Avec l'amitié de
Michèle Camizuli Bonneveau	...	Avec l'amitié de (as Michèle Camizuli)
Marc Bordure	...	Avec l'amitié de
Blanche Guichou	...	Avec l'amitié de
Jacques Menichetti	...	Avec l'amitié de
Marie Darroussin	...	Les enfants

Also Known As:

Marius and Jeannette (USA)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | UK:15

Filming Locations:

L'Estaque, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

Agat Films & Cie

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jeanette is at Marius's place, they remove the foil wrap from a bottle of Pastis on the outside table. Then they get inside and we see the bottle fully wrapped on the table by the window.

Quotes:

Jeannette: Old people should be shot at birth.

Movie Connections:

Followed by À la place du coeur (1998)

Soundtrack:

Les quatre saisons

Misfits are just fine

Robert Guédiguian, director of the film Marius et Jeannette, loves the working class people. I have no quarrel with that. On the other hand, being a socialist director doesn't guarantee a movie that has much artistical merit. The message is loud and clear: working class people are happier than the guys with all the money, because their emotional lives are purer and not spoiled by capitalist values. The problem with this kind of film is that people who adhere to democratic values need not be taught this stuff at such a childish - and sometimes downright stupid - level, while the capitalist viewer sees a conformation of his prejudice that a "communist" director has neither the intelligence nor the good taste to make a film about the working class that is worth spending his costly time on. Guédiguian's intentions are admirable, the result is hard to take seriously.