THE STORY – 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol, a playwright, novelist, and filmmaker who grew up in a middle-class household in Marseille and became one of the world’s most inventive and prolific artists from the 1930s-50s, is visited by a vision of his younger self.
THE CAST – Laurent Lafitte & Géraldine Pailhas
THE TEAM – Sylvain Chomet (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 90 Minutes
Marcel Pagnol’s legacy as a writer and filmmaker speaks for itself. One of the greatest French writers of the 20th century, the Marseille-born Pagnol became the first filmmaker elected to the Académie française. Known for using local actors who spoke with a near-unintelligible (to Parisians) regional accent, Pagnol wrote novels, plays, and films about the lower classes living in the provinces far outside the experience of Parisian high society. He even built his own film production studio in Marseille, employing local talent alongside some of the best French actors and artisans of the time. Pagnol was a groundbreaking artist who deserves to be more appreciated today, so the fact that he is the subject of French animation master Sylvain Chomet’s latest film, “A Magnificent Life,” is cause for celebration.
Chomet, whose hand-drawn animation style recalls old French illustrations, is the ideal person to take on a Marcel Pagnol biopic, especially given that his last film, “The Illusionist,” was a tribute to another great French artist, Jacques Tati. He may not be from anywhere near Marseille, but his old-fashioned animation style recalls the art of Pagnol’s heyday so well that the pairing seems fated, just like it did with Tati. While Pagnol was most famous for the musicality of his dialogue, Chomet finds musicality in the way his characters move, often stuffing comic bits and dramatic grace notes into the background of scenes to create an animated world that feels just as rich and real as any live-action one.
Chomet’s conceit for the film takes biopic convention and gives it a little twist: 60-year-old Marcel (Laurent Lafitte), not feeling inspired by writing anymore, is visited by a younger version of himself who leads him on a tour of his memories so that he can get that love back and write a memoir. Chomet plays with the idea of the young Marcel interacting with the flashbacks but largely abandons it after the first few minutes as a step too far into magical realist territory that doesn’t feel true to Pagnol’s style. The film dutifully marches through the most important moments in Pagnol’s life, primarily focusing on his accomplishments as a filmmaker. This leads to the film feeling like a conventional biopic, a bit of a disappointment for such a singular filmmaker as Chomet.
However, just because the film feels conventional doesn’t mean it’s not well-crafted. The elegant editing effectively uses some beautiful match cuts, and the use of actual film clips of Pagnol’s work adds to the film’s handmade quality. The vocal performances go all out in the same way Pagnol’s actors did, embracing the caricature-like qualities of Chomet’s character designs. Stefano Bollani’s hummable score gives the film a jaunty, bright feeling, beautifully capturing the aura of early twentieth-century France. The film coasts on pleasant good vibes, never lingering too long on any bad news or pain for Marcel, but the film thankfully isn’t a piece of hagiography. Marcel moves himself and his wife to Paris in the middle of a housing crisis without really taking her feelings into account, and Chomet makes no bones about Marcel’s selfishness in the matter.
Pagnol certainly had an eventful life, but the speed with which the film moves through certain time periods often makes it feel like his life wasn’t particularly dramatic. Not that the film particularly needs more drama, but it doesn’t have the kinds of emotional highs that mark Chomet’s best work, preferring to stay in the realm of sweet tribute to the man. That sweetness makes “A Magnificent Life” a delight to watch, but it also means that the film can’t quite live up to its title and be truly magnificent.
