It’s an age-old story: the prodigal son returns home on account of his bed-ridden father. How many permutations of this have we come across before? Some might argue we’ve run that well dry, both in the novel and film form. It was with some reluctance that I entered the theater seeking a French independent feature setting out to rehash a subject worn thin countless times in the past. The result was surprisingly refreshing.
30 year-old Antoine (Nicholás Cazalé) is struggling to make ends meet. His father (Daniel Duval), whom he severed ties with years ago, has a heart attack and Antoine begrudgingly returns to Provençe at mother’s request. In light of his illness, the family grocery store is in need of a cart driver and Antoine’s older brother, François (Stéphan Guérin-Tillié) insists that for once Antoine lend a helping hand. Accompanied by next-door neighbor and love interest, Claire (Clotilde Hesme) our surly protagonist begins a slow process of reflection and self-exploration, coming of age late in the game, but gracefully against a backdrop of the beautiful French countryside.
That’s one way of putting it. The point, however, won’t be found in the narrative. What resonate are the quiet, ineffable, and undeniably filmic moments that mold the film into what it is: a patient and rustic reflection of life and family embraced by the calm permanence of a pastoral landscape.
The film opens in a blur. Home movies shot on super-8 projected and pulsating; we’re in such a tight close-up that the shaky footage becomes broad brushstrokes of warm hues – the aesthetic of intimacy. We cut on swish pans to Antoine at the subway station, trains scream by in blurs. In the first few minutes directorEric Guiradobridges the bleak tones of a glum urban world and the tender, nostalgic imagery of childhood. As Antoine returns to the home he fled from ten years earlier, the rushing subway cars evoke memories of the faded celluloid that intimately documented his youth. It’s a really nice intro.
Antoine’s first foray into selling groceries door-to-door doesn’t go well at all. He’s got an attitude; he’s incredibly unfriendly and blunt. All of Provençe’s inhabitants are in their winter years – slow moving and hard of hearing. It doesn’t help that Antoine’s as cold and unapproachable as Camus’ Mersault. In fact, the most unpleasant thing about the film is its protagonist. Thankfully, The Grocer’s Son makes all the right turns and Antoine learns a thing or two about kindness and hospitality, transformed by the third act from a stone faced stoic into an affable young man who might be ready for a commitment or two.
Director Guirado develops a rich cast of characters (most notably the old folks) who engage in seemingly trivial interactions, but as the film adeptly demonstrates, it’s those moments in between that breathe life into the story, give the subjects dimensionality, and compel us to feel compassion for and identify with the faces we see on screen.
“The Grocer’s Son” (French: “Le Fils de l'épicier”) 2007. 96 minutes, 1.85:1 Aspect. Starring Nicholás Cazalé, Clotilde Hesme, Stéphan Guérin-Tillié. Directed and Co-written by Eric Guirado.Now playing at the Charles Theatre.
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