Review: A Magnificent Life

Image courtesy of Picture Box.

It's been 15 years since animator and director Sylvain Chomet released a film, so "A Magnificent Life" is a cause for celebration. Chomet's debut, the acclaimed "The Triplets of Belleville," was an oddball surprise hit, though his follow up, "The Illusionist," although decent, was met with some controversy regarding representation - it was built around an unproduced Jacques Tati script and featured a Tati stand-in as its lead character.

Chomet's latest film is also centered around a French cinematic icon - Marcel Pagnol, a novelist and playwright who turned to film and ended up building his own French movie studio. Some reviews have noted the odd technique that "A Magnificent Life" utilizes by presenting Pagnol trying to write a memoir and being helped along the way by what could best be described as the ghost of his childhood self.

While responses to this conceit may vary, I found "A Magnificent Life" to still be a lovingly detailed and gentle portrayal of a French cinematic icon and an interesting glance at various points in his life. While I'm familiar with Pagnol's work and have seen some of his films - most notably, "The Baker's Wife" and "Merlusse" - I knew little about him otherwise, including that he was a prolific playwright and author for years before becoming involved in cinema.

The early years depict his fleeing Marseille, where he'd later return to build his studio, and his father, an academic, to move to Paris, where his work was performed on the stage to acclaim. The film also shows the dissolution of his first marriage and his friendship and collaborations with Raimu, the jowly, cigar-loving comedian who would star in some of Pagnol's greatest films (such as "The Baker's Wife" and "Fanny").

Considering I'm currently reading Daniel Kehlmann's "The Director," a novelized take on director G.W. Pabst's work while stuck in Nazi Germany, I found the sections in Chomet's picture particularly interesting as Pagnol attempts to ward off the Nazis who take over Marseilles during World War II and seemingly want to collaborate with him. It seems that Pagnol was more adept at navigating these waters than Pabst.

So, ultimately, "A Magnificent Life" might not be as unique or quirky as "The Triplets of Belleville" and I'm not sure it says anything too deep about art or Pagnol's body of work, but it's an engrossing and occasionally moving story about a life well lived.