This is one of the most exciting endings in French cinema, and this extraordinary story really happened to Marcel Pagnol.

This is one of the most exciting endings in French cinema, and this extraordinary story really happened to Marcel Pagnol.

“I believe that there is a great art which is the chief art, that is the dramatic art which calls to its aid all the other arts”Marcel Pagnol said in 1965, at the microphone of Provence in Marseille.

Working alternately between the pages of his novels, on the theater stage or on the cinema (then television) screens, the famous Marseille author (whose death we commemorate today on the 50th anniversary) used this “primary dramatic art” throughout his career in many ways and using different tools.

At the same time, playwright, filmmaker and writer, Pagnol was able to make Cesare’s thunderous voice resonate, Manon’s beauty and Uncle Jules’ musical accent sing outside their respective settings.

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my mother’s prison

In 1990, sixteen years after Panoli’s death, under the direction of Yves Robert, “My Mother’s Castle” became a feature film. The second opus Birthday memories By the author, this autobiographical novel is complete with some of the most beautiful lines ever written by Panoli (perfectly delivered by the voice of Jean-Pierre Daras on the big screen) and an extraordinary story.

He had previously recounted his family’s misadventures—they sneaked through the grounds of the magnificent Château de la Bouzine to get to their vacation home, only to be arrested by a vigilante guard who terrorized little Marcel’s mother—Pagnol ended his piece by saying that this incident was. It ended very well.

After describing a happy dinner with friends, the author delivers a terrible blow to the reader, stating that over the following years he successively lost his mother, brother and best friend. This heartbreaking epilogue, to say the least, clashed with the warm and cheerful atmosphere that reigned in the rest of the work.

But the story does not end here

In the last lines of his works, Pagnoli jumps back in time several years. He wants to tell us one last anecdote.

In 1941, now an acclaimed author and filmmaker, he sought to purchase a structure near Marseille to house his Provençal Hollywood, the Cité du Cinéma. It was when he visited the purchased property for the first time that he suddenly realized: this castle, which is his today, is the same castle that he passed through in his childhood, which almost caused a lot of trouble for his family. And whose guard made such an impression on his mother.

As if to leave the last word of his book alive, the author ends with this masterful sentence, speaking of Augustine Paniol: “He heard the cry of the guard and the harsh breathing of the dog. Pale, trembling, and forever inconsolable, he did not know that he was in his son’s house.”

Chateau de la Bouzine, today

Located in the 11th arrondissement of Marseille, Château de la Bouzine still welcomes visitors today. A must-see for lovers of Provençal culture and Marcel Pagnol, it houses a cinema, a museum dedicated to the seventh art and temporary exhibitions (currently running until May 31, dedicated to Steven Spielberg).

However, since June 2023, there has been controversy surrounding the site, the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, decided to remove Nicolas Pagnol (grandson of the author) from the management of the castle, which he had been in charge of for 6 years. A conflict that According to the last 20 minutes articleIt certainly helps to explain the City Hall’s discretion over the recent commemoration organized for the 50th anniversary of Marcel Pagnoli’s death.

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Source: Allocine

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