My Father's Glory

This beautiful, charming work (and its companion MY MOTHER'S CASTLE) is lifted from the memoirs of filmmaker/screenwriter Marcel Pagnol.

It is a loving, romanticized recreation of Pagnol's childhood trips to the south of France.

Director Yves Robert ices every scene with sweet affection and a seemingly effortless attention to detail.

There are so many moving, heart-tugging scenes.

Describing them all would spoil the confection.

I'll mention one. Young Marcel accompanies his father, Joseph, a school teacher, to school one day. Not believing that Marcel can read already, Joseph writes a simple declaration of his love for Marcel on the blackboard. Marcel then surprises his father by reading out loud what his father wrote. It is such a touching, affecting scene.

MY FATHER'S GLORY is bursting to the seams with such magic.

Vladimir Cosma's score perfectly captures the period and tone of Pagnol's memories.

Simply exquisite.