September 13, 2011 – My Afternoons with Margueritte tells the story of Germain (played by Green Card’s Gerard Depardieu), a simple and nearly illiterate man in a small French town, and of his friendship with a fragile yet intelligent and educated older lady named Margueritte (played by Gisele Casadesus).
Germain, already in his 50’s (although Depardieu is actually 63), is sort of the town’s fool, not due to lack of insight but rather because of circumstance and want of opportunity. Margueritte, on the other hand, reads Camus’ The Plague and other books by the great writers and has complete understanding of words and a deep love for literature that she begins to instill into Germain as she reads aloud to him at the park. “Using a dictionary is like traveling – from one word to the next,” says Margueritte, in the voice of the amazing 97-year-old Casadesus. “You lose yourself as if in a labyrinth. You stop and you dream.” In time, Germain is on his way to literacy, and both of them develop a love, “a different kind of love,” that provides them both with the companionship and friendship they equally needed.
My Afternoons with Margueritte has a beautiful message – it is never too late to learn and it is always possible to find a friend. Is a French film with English subtitles, 86 minutes long, not rated (but it should be lovely at any age!), directed and written by Jean Becker and Jean-Loup Dabadie, and based on Marie-Sabine Roger’s book La Tete en Friche. It opens in Los Angeles Friday September 16 at the Royal Laemmle Theatre, in West Los Angeles.
Comments