L'âge ingrat (1964) User Reviews

Jean Gabin takes a vacation.....

[dbdumonteil · 4 August 2006]

...at Fernandel's place.Most amazing thing ,their names appear at the end of the list of the actors in the cast and credits ,but in bigger letters and on the dome of the Pantheon! These two actors deserve a niche in the French cinematographic pantheon for ,even when the screenplay and direction are almost worthless,they survive! Gabin is a grumpy Normand who takes his vacation on the Côte d'Azur at a voluble Fernandel's house :his daughter (a gorgeous Marie Dubois whose part is unworthy of her)is to marry the Southerner Frenchman's son (played by Fernandel's own son,Franck).The two soon-to-be fathers-in-law do not get on very well and both the folks and the young lovebirds will have problems.

What is definitely lacking here is a great writer ,someone like Audiard or Jeanson.Few scenes are really funny and the movie is undistinguished.

slight and unremarkable

[myriamlenys · 4/10 · 19 September 2020]

A young woman from the north of France and a young man from the south of France have fallen in love and have announced their engagement. Wanting to do the right thing, the father of the fiancé invites the whole family of the fiancée in order to get properly acquainted. It soon turns out that the pater familias from the north and the pater familias from the south, both of them strong-willed men, have sharply different personalities. This does not bode well for the future of the young lovers...

"L'âge ingrat" begins as a comedy and gradually turns into a more serious piece of drama. It's notable mainly for uniting two living legends of French cinema, to wit Jean Gabin and Fernandel. With a combination like that, one expects fireworks. The movie, however, is remarkably unremarkable : it's the kind of thing one watches with vague enjoyment, only in order to forget all about it the next day. Gabin and Fernandel do well enough, but their collective star power is wasted on a slight and bland story. The comedy (which relies mainly on the cultural differences between the north and south of France) could have been funnier ; the drama could have been more profound, more meaningful or more moving.

Another point of interest : Fernandel had brought along his flesh-and-blood son, in order to play the father-son duo from the south. (Fernandel's son would later embark on a career as singer/crooner and entertainer.) Here, too, the viewer gets to enjoy little in the way of real sparks.

People interested in the culture of France can watch "L'âge ingrat" for a slice-of-life description of the habits and manners of respectable middle class citizens during the early 1960's.

Me, I was left with the impression that the fiancée, near the end, had made the wrong decision - a woman should cut off her own two feet rather than marry a jealous man - but doubtlessly other viewers and reviewers will form their own opinion.

A underrated film

[searchanddestroy-1 · 6 September 2014]

As far as I know, and I insist, I am not absolutely sure, that's the only film starring those two great actors: Fernandel and Jean Gabin. A very well produced, directed, and acted film with a typical atmosphere from France. I love that. I agree, it's not a great feature but very pleasant, especially with those two. And I quite don't get why this film was not more widely known. Gilles Grangier, the director, was an efficient worker and this one is the perfect example.

I will add that this feature is not really a comedy; only in the first half, and the second part would be a little more drama, character study, in which many audiences could identify themselves.