Quite often films like this can be seen as sickly and rather a bit much for those who want a more realistic plot as well. With this you can get that feeling of emotion that can feel a little showy, kind of like "look here we are trying so hard to make you feel all fuzzy", I'm not saying that is all together a bad thing but I do feel movies like that can get a little too seen before sometimes. The movie has a small cast in terms of main characters but that makes it much more personal and at times you can kind of connect to these French townsfolk and the entire goings on that happen.
The plot is about a man named Germain who is a little on the less intelligent side but is a sweet man in ways and shows it in this film most whilst feeding his beloved pigeons in the park. Germain comes across an old lady who also feeds the pigeons and strikes up a nice little friendship where both tell each other of their lives and read to each other as well. Of course not all the plot is set in the park and between these two characters, Germain also has to contend with his less than loving mother and friends who often ridicule him for his less than smart remarks. I felt the story does go along nicely, yet again the sickly parts can clog up part of this small and light movie but in the end it isn't long enough to make me care about much of the more cheesy moments.
Gerard Depardieu is Germain and he does a good job, he makes him exactly what he is meant to be, not too intelligent but caring, can get a little angry but at the same time wants to learn and better himself too. It is not only Depardieu who is good, Gisele Casadesus as the old lady and the name in the movie Margueritte is in fine form, she is acting here way into her 90's and really gives this her all and creates a likable character and a little lady who maybe could remind many of us of grandmas. I liked most of the cast as well but I also like that the main two are given a lot of time together, the movie never tries to make too much small talk with minor characters and so I felt it flows well for such a short film.
Jean Becker directs and does a nice job; I felt he captured the right tone of the town used and gets that French film kind of spirit really going. Becker co-writes as well and the script is really where a lot of the movie can feel overly sweet, the ending leaves a nice taste but boy just before that it made me think it was going to be a horrendous ending and too predictable, would have ruined the movie but luckily the guys behind this get it right. I must also mention the wonderful score which is not used a lot but when it is it's lovely and really brings out the best of the certain scenes involved.
With this you can get that kind of award bait movie that really tries to either pull at the heart strings or make you laugh or sometimes both and this movie feels very much like that. I will say though that it is recommendable, it is layered in typical kind of plot but still wraps the whole thing up nicely and adds a nice little bow to this more than OK movie. Don't expect something amazing, this is good but far from sublime, still shows though the genuine skill that French cinema can produce and also that Depardieu is still going strongly as an actor.
The plot is about a man named Germain who is a little on the less intelligent side but is a sweet man in ways and shows it in this film most whilst feeding his beloved pigeons in the park. Germain comes across an old lady who also feeds the pigeons and strikes up a nice little friendship where both tell each other of their lives and read to each other as well. Of course not all the plot is set in the park and between these two characters, Germain also has to contend with his less than loving mother and friends who often ridicule him for his less than smart remarks. I felt the story does go along nicely, yet again the sickly parts can clog up part of this small and light movie but in the end it isn't long enough to make me care about much of the more cheesy moments.
Gerard Depardieu is Germain and he does a good job, he makes him exactly what he is meant to be, not too intelligent but caring, can get a little angry but at the same time wants to learn and better himself too. It is not only Depardieu who is good, Gisele Casadesus as the old lady and the name in the movie Margueritte is in fine form, she is acting here way into her 90's and really gives this her all and creates a likable character and a little lady who maybe could remind many of us of grandmas. I liked most of the cast as well but I also like that the main two are given a lot of time together, the movie never tries to make too much small talk with minor characters and so I felt it flows well for such a short film.
Jean Becker directs and does a nice job; I felt he captured the right tone of the town used and gets that French film kind of spirit really going. Becker co-writes as well and the script is really where a lot of the movie can feel overly sweet, the ending leaves a nice taste but boy just before that it made me think it was going to be a horrendous ending and too predictable, would have ruined the movie but luckily the guys behind this get it right. I must also mention the wonderful score which is not used a lot but when it is it's lovely and really brings out the best of the certain scenes involved.
With this you can get that kind of award bait movie that really tries to either pull at the heart strings or make you laugh or sometimes both and this movie feels very much like that. I will say though that it is recommendable, it is layered in typical kind of plot but still wraps the whole thing up nicely and adds a nice little bow to this more than OK movie. Don't expect something amazing, this is good but far from sublime, still shows though the genuine skill that French cinema can produce and also that Depardieu is still going strongly as an actor.