La tête en friche (2010)

A semi-literate and lonely odd-job man bonds with a much older and well-read woman.

Director:

Jean Becker

Writers:

Jean Becker (screenplay), Jean-Loup Dabadie (screenplay)

Stars:

Gérard Depardieu, Gisèle Casadesus, Maurane

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Depardieu	...	Germain Chazes
Gisèle Casadesus	...	Margueritte Vandeveld
Maurane	...	Francine
Sophie Guillemin	...	Annette
Patrick Bouchitey	...	Landremont - le garagiste
Jean-François Stévenin	...	Jojo dit The Cook
Claire Maurier	...	Jacqueline Chazes - La mère de Germain
Anne Le Guernec	...	Jacqueline Chazes jeune
Bruno Ricci	...	Marco
Lyès Salem	...	Youssef - le serveur
Matthieu Dahan	...	Julien
François-Xavier Demaison	...	Jean-Michel Gardini dit Jean-Mi
Régis Laspalès	...	Monsieur Bayle - L'instituteur
Serge Larivière	...	Le neveu de Margueritte
Jérôme Deschamps	...	Le maire

Storyline

A semi-literate and lonely odd-job man bonds with a much older and well-read woman.

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Plot Keywords:

odd job man | f rated | old woman in wheelchair | inherited house | single mother | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French Flemish

Release Date:

16 September 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mis tardes con Margueritte

Filming Locations:

Pons, Charente-Maritime, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

ICE3, K.J.B. Production, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

French visa # 123205.

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Goofs

While Germain studies his dictionary, his cat lying on the table changes position instantly between several shots.

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Quotes

Germain Chazes: It's not a typical love affair, but love and tenderness, both are there. Named after a daisy, she lived amongst words, surrounded by adjectives in green fields of verbs. Some force you yield to. But she, with soft art, passed through my hard shield and into my heart. Not always are love stories just made of love. Sometimes love is not named but it's love just the same. This is not a typical love affair I met her on a bench in my local square. She made a little stir, tiny like a bird with her ...

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Soundtracks

La chanson de Germain
Written by Jean-Loup Dabadie and Laurent Voulzy
Performed by Gérard Depardieu

User Reviews

One very enjoyable movie

This is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. The story of a middle-aged man who can barely read, and doesn't enjoy it, and as a result has only odd jobs that pay little. He lives in an old trailer home in his mother's back yard, because that is all he can afford.

Then one day he meets a frail, elderly woman, who charms him by her very differences: she is a retired scientist, a highly educated and cultured woman, who has a passion for literature, which she loves to read out loud. He allows her to read to him, and becomes hooked by some great literature. It opens whole new worlds to him, and changes his life for the better. It also gives him the desire to really know how to read, and he sets about learning to do so, despite all the shame that involves for an adult man.

I liked this movie so much that I read the book on which it was based afterward. The novel, with the same title, is if anything even better than the movie. The end of the movie seems a little rushed, whereas the end of the book makes complete sense and is, I found, more satisfying.

Still, this is one very fine movie, with two great performances, by Depardieu and Gaby Casadeseus. It makes you feel good, without the mush that typifies what in the U.S. are called "feel good" movies. It would be interesting to see a good American director adapt it for American audiences.