Summary
César manages a café in the French port of Marseilles, with his son Marius.
A young romantic, Marius is in love with Fanny, who runs a pavement fishmonger stall for
her mother. However, Marius also has a passion to travel to foreign lands by sea
and cannot commit himself to his sweetheart. Fanny decides to use the attentions
of another suitor, Honoré Panisse, to persuade Marius to make up his mind.
Review
Mariusis the first film in arguably the most well known and best trilogy in cinema
history (followed by Fanny and César). All three films were
written and produced by Marcel Pagnol, one of France’s most celebrated playwrights of
the Twentieth Century. Although Pagnol officially directly only the third film in
the series, his influence can be seen vividly in the other two films. All three
films reflect Pagnol’s intense love for the south of France, particularly the region her
grew up in and around Provence.
Marius was based on Pagnol’s successful stage play of the same name which ran for over
a thousand performances. The film version has been criticised for being little more
than a direct transplant of the play from stage to film but, for all that, it is an immensely
entertaining and satisfying piece of cinema.
Populated with colourful and engaging characters, with some wonderful, unpretentious dialogue,
the film is an engrossing and accurate depiction of life in Provence of the late 1920s.
An impressive cast is headed by the legendary actor Raimu (who also starred in the original
stage play), perfectly cast as the café owner César, a substantial part
that provides the linchpin of the three films.
© James Travers 2001
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