After The chorists and The New Button WarChristophe Barratier continues his exploration of childhood with The Time of Secrets, according to Marcel Pagnol, on screens Wednesday, March 23. It thus concludes the trilogy begun by Yves Robert with The glory of my father and My Mother’s Castle. A nice sunny film in the chromo style of the director.
1905: Marcel, 12, returns to his beloved Provençal hills with his little brother and his parents for the summer vacation. He joins his friend Lili, sets traps with him and reconnects with the nature he loves so much. He discovers little Isabelle who introduces him to the castle of his parents, who came like him from Marseille on holiday. In contact with her, he moves away from his lifelong friend and discovers new feelings…
A beautiful cast – Guillaume De Tonquédec, Mélanie Doutey, François-Xavier Demaison, Anne Charrier, and the young Léo Campion -, illuminated with evocative postcard images, highlights Pagnol’s novel. The author-director of the 1930s shot his own films in the Provence region of Allauch (Bouches-du-Rhône) where Barratier made his. Assets that the filmmaker however highlights in the game and in the image.
The accents have to sing: the characters are in their Sunday best, the light is sunny, everything is looking good. A Provence idealized as by a child, Marcel in the film. Christophe Barratier is consistent with his aesthetic by offering us the look of a child, and the viewer will find a charming change of scenery. Marcel’s account to his parents of his visit to the castle evokes a dream, an experience reminiscent of that of Grand Meaulnes, a successful scene. Just like the feminist subject of the film, held by an all too rare Mélanie Doutey or the scene of the cave, a phantasmagoria. The fleeting appearance of Michel Vuillermoz as an eccentric who speaks only in verse will remain in the annals.
The dream of little Isabelle by Marcel will come true in an unexpected form, except for readers of Pagnol. Well seen. Pagnol’s Childhood Memories has a sequel, unfinished by its author, The time of love, published posthumously in 1977. It will no doubt be produced one day. Initiatory story that closes a Provençal cycle started by Yves Robert, The Time of Secrets smells less of garrigue, but still smells of lavender.
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Kind : Drama
Director: Christophe Barratier
Actors : Guillaume De Tonquédec, Mélanie Doutey, François-Xavier Demaison, Anne Charrier, Léo Campion, Michel Vuillermoz, Olivia Côte
Duration : 1h48
Country : France
Exit : March 23, 2022
Distributer : Pathé Distribution
Synopsis : Marseilles, July 1905. The young Marcel Pagnol has just completed his primary studies. In three months, he will enter “high school”. Three months… an eternity when you’re that age. Because it’s vacation time, the real ones, the big ones! A child of the city, this long-awaited return to his dear hills of Aubagne and Allauch, those of “My Father’s Glory” and “My Mother’s Castle” transports him with happiness. There he rediscovers nature, the great outdoors and above all his friend Lili, always ready to share new adventures, at the age when the time of carelessness gives way to that of secrets.