César (film)
César is a 1936 French film, written and directed by Marcel Pagnol. It's the final part of his Marseille trilogy, which began with the film Marius and was followed by Fanny. Unlike the other two films in the trilogy, César was not based on a play by Pagnol, but written directly as a film script. In 1946 Pagnol adapted the script as a stage play.
César | |
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1936 poster for César showing Fanny and Marius | |
Directed by | Marcel Pagnol |
Written by | Marcel Pagnol |
Starring | Raimu Pierre Fresnay |
Music by | Vincent Scotto |
Cinematography | Willy Faktorovitch Grischa Roger Ledru |
Edited by | Suzanne de Troeye Jeannette Ginestet |
Release date | 27 October 1936 |
Running time | 168 min |
Country | France |
Language | French |
Plot
Honoré Panisse is dying, cheerfully, with friends, wife, and son at his side. He confesses to the priest in front of his friends; he insists that the doctor be truthful. But, he cannot bring himself to tell his son Césario that his real father is Marius, the absent son of César, Césario's godfather. Panisse leaves that to Fanny, the lad's mother. Dissembling that he's off to see a friend, Césario then seeks Marius, now a mechanic in Toulon. Posing as a journalist, Césario spends time with Marius and leaves believing tales he is a petty thief. Only after the truth comes out can Marius, Fanny, César, and Césario step beyond the falsehoods, benign though they may be.
Cast
- Marius (Pierre Fresnay)
- Fanny Panisse (Orane Demazis)
- Honoré Panisse (Charpin)
- César Olivier (Raimu)
- Honorine Cabanis (Alida Rouff)
- Césario Panisse (André Fouche)
- Claudine Foulon (Milly Mathis)
- Albert Brown (Robert Vattier)
- Felix Escartefique (Paul Dullac)
- Innocent Mangiapan (Marcel Maupi)
- Dr. Felicien Venelle (Édouard Delmont)
- Elzear Bonnegrâce (Thommeray)
- Missionary boy (Jean Castan)
- Pierre Dromard (Robert Bassac)
- Assistant of Panisse (Relly)
In popular culture
- The famed restaurateur and founder of California cuisine, Alice Waters, was so taken by this film that she named her Berkeley restaurant "Chez Panisse". The café upstairs from the restaurant is decorated with posters from the films Marius, Fanny, and César.[1]
- The main characters from the films Marius, Fanny and César make a cameo appearance in the Asterix comic book Asterix and the Banquet.[2][3]
References
- "Fanny (1932) - Trivia - IMDb". Akas.imdb.com. 2009-05-01. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
- "Les allusions dans Astérix : Marcel Pagnol". Mage.fst.uha.fr. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
- "Astérix – Le site officiel". Asterix.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
External links
- César at IMDb
- The Marseille Trilogy: Life Goes to the Movies an essay by Michael Atkinson at the Criterion Collection