French Provincial
Encyclopedia
French Provincial is a 1975 French drama film directed by André Téchiné
, starring Jeanne Moreau
, Michel Auclair
and Marie-France Pisier
. The film presents an overview of French life and politics though the changes within one family in southwestern France from the 1930s through the 1970s.
While the bourgeois wives of the two other sons mope and become peevish, Berthe makes herself useful. In the war, she is a heroine of the Resistance; when the business is imperiled by a strike, she settles it by acceding to the workers demands. She takes over the dominant role in management, and becomes the new matriarch as well. In contrast with the practical Berthe, Regina, her sister in law is flighty. Dark and beautiful, Regina is married to Prosper, Pédret’s youngest son and the only one with a college education. But Regina and the handsome, refined Prosper are a mismatch.
A rapacious dreamer, Regina, fed up with the dull austerity of provincial society, runs off with an American soldier. Eventually, Berthe comes to control the family's fortunes, but economic challenges in the 1950s force her to turn to an unlikely source for financial help: her obnoxious sister-in-law Regina who has come back, more stunning than ever, with an American industrialist lover. Regina may now be willing to aid Berthe in exchange for her freedom.
The film’s style mingles European and American directors Godard
, Bernardo Bertolucci
, Orson Wells, William Wyler
, Jean Cocteau
Alfred Hitchcock, Jacques Tati
among others.
The Flashback sequence of Pedret’s youth wings from Wuthering Heights
and the flaming silhouettes of Gone with the Wind
to The Conformist
and The Spider's Stratagem
.
French Provincial was a show case piece for legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau. Despite the fact that her character in the film scarcely seems to age over a 30 year period, she appears perfectly at ease with this style of drama and shows a surprising comic flair in some scenes.
called the film: " Marvelous". "Téchiné and Goldin (the screenwriter) may not know anything except movies, but the way they know movies is enough for me".
André Téchiné
André Téchiné , is a French screenwriter and film director. He has had a long and distinguished career that places him among the best post-New Wave French film directors....
, starring Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
, Michel Auclair
Michel Auclair
Michel Auclair was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema.Auclair was born Vladimir Vujović to a Serbian father and a French mother in Koblenz. His father was Vojislav Vujović, prominent Yugoslav Communist and secretary of the Communist Youth...
and Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier was a French actress. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:...
. The film presents an overview of French life and politics though the changes within one family in southwestern France from the 1930s through the 1970s.
Plot
At the beginning of the 20th century, Pédret, a Spanish immigrant arrives in the southwest French country side. He becomes a blacksmith and marries Augustine, the daughter of the village baker. By 1936 Pédret’s forge has become a foundry where his three sons are the managers. Years later when Augustine, now a bourgeois matriarch, realizes that her son Hector is having an affair with Berthe, a lowly seamstress, she tries to ruin Berthe’s business and drive her out of town even if it means bribing her. But old Pédret, who knows that his sons have their spirits broken, can see that Berthe has the blunt good sense they lack, and he arranges for Bethe and Hector to be married.While the bourgeois wives of the two other sons mope and become peevish, Berthe makes herself useful. In the war, she is a heroine of the Resistance; when the business is imperiled by a strike, she settles it by acceding to the workers demands. She takes over the dominant role in management, and becomes the new matriarch as well. In contrast with the practical Berthe, Regina, her sister in law is flighty. Dark and beautiful, Regina is married to Prosper, Pédret’s youngest son and the only one with a college education. But Regina and the handsome, refined Prosper are a mismatch.
A rapacious dreamer, Regina, fed up with the dull austerity of provincial society, runs off with an American soldier. Eventually, Berthe comes to control the family's fortunes, but economic challenges in the 1950s force her to turn to an unlikely source for financial help: her obnoxious sister-in-law Regina who has come back, more stunning than ever, with an American industrialist lover. Regina may now be willing to aid Berthe in exchange for her freedom.
Cast
- Jeanne MoreauJeanne MoreauJeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
: Berthe - Michel AuclairMichel AuclairMichel Auclair was an actor of Serbian and French ancestry, known best for his roles in French cinema.Auclair was born Vladimir Vujović to a Serbian father and a French mother in Koblenz. His father was Vojislav Vujović, prominent Yugoslav Communist and secretary of the Communist Youth...
: Hector - Marie-France PisierMarie-France PisierMarie-France Pisier was a French actress. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:...
: Régina - Claude Mann : Prosper
- Orane Demazis : Augustine old
- Aram Stephan : Pédret old
- Hélène Surgère : Lucie
- Julien GuiomarJulien GuiomarJulien Guiomar , was a French film actor...
: Victor - Michèle Moretti : Pierrette
- Pierre BaillotPierre BaillotPierre Marie François de Sales Baillot was a French violinist and composer.Baillot was born in Passy and studied the violin under Giovanni Battista Viotti...
: Pierre - Marc Chapiteau : Pédret young
- Françoise LebrunFrançoise LebrunFrançoise Lebrun is a French actress. She has appeared in many movies, and is especially known for her role as Veronika in The Mother and the Whore . She also worked for, amongst others, Paul Vecchiali, Marguerite Duras and Lucas Belvaux, and is the subject of the documentary Françoise Lebrun, les...
: Augustine young - Jean Rougeul : Valnoble
- Alan Scott Alan ScottAlan Scott is a fictional character, a superhero in the and the first superhero to bear the name Green Lantern.-Publication history:The original Green Lantern was created by young struggling artist Martin Nodell, who was inspired by the sight of a New York Subway employee waving a red lantern to...
: Richard
Analysis
Téchiné’s second film is a mix of black comedy, romantic drama and nostalgia, told in an unsettling inconsistent style. The film traces the lives of its characters through the period of Nazi occupation to the present day, but their story is secondary. The focus of the film is the family-owned factory. We see its birth, its maturing, and its decline, as if it were a living thing. Around it, times change, the people change, social attitudes and hair-styles change, but the factory remains there, immutable and indifferent.The film’s style mingles European and American directors Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci is an Italian film director and screenwriter, whose films include The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, 1900, The Last Emperor and The Dreamers...
, Orson Wells, William Wyler
William Wyler
William Wyler was a leading American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.Notable works included Ben-Hur , The Best Years of Our Lives , and Mrs. Miniver , all of which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture...
, Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
Alfred Hitchcock, Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati
Jacques Tati was a French filmmaker, working as a comedic actor, writer and director. In a poll conducted by Entertainment Weekly of the Greatest Movie Directors Tati was voted the 46th greatest of all time...
among others.
The Flashback sequence of Pedret’s youth wings from Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
and the flaming silhouettes of Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind
The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
to The Conformist
The Conformist
The Conformist is a novel by Alberto Moravia published in 1951, which details the life and desire for normalcy of a government official during Italy's fascist period. It is also known for the 1970 film adaptation by Bernardo Bertolucci....
and The Spider's Stratagem
The Spider's Stratagem
The Spider's Stratagem is a political film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.The screenplay was written by Bertolucci based on "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" story written by Jorge Luis Borges.-Plot:...
.
French Provincial was a show case piece for legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau. Despite the fact that her character in the film scarcely seems to age over a 30 year period, she appears perfectly at ease with this style of drama and shows a surprising comic flair in some scenes.
Reception
Famous critic Pauline KaelPauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
called the film: " Marvelous". "Téchiné and Goldin (the screenwriter) may not know anything except movies, but the way they know movies is enough for me".