by Len Weiler
The new animated film,
A Magnificent Life is written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, who is best known for his two earlier animated classics
The Triplets of Belleville (2003) and
The Illusionist (2010). This one is an animated documentary/bio-pic about the remarkable French playwright, screenwriter, film director and novelist Marcel Pagnol, most famous internationally for his series of 1930s movies now known as,
The Marseille Trilogy consisting of
Marius (1931),
Fanny (1932) and
César (1936). Pagnol is also known in this country for two connected films, both released in 1986, eight years after his death:
Jean de Florette and
Manon of the Spring. These award winning films were not directed by Pagnol, of course; rather, they are adaptations of a two-part Pagnol novel,
The Water of the Hills [
L’Eau des collinses], from 1962.
Pagnol is considered one of the greatest French auteurs of the last century, and he is revered by many in that country as a national treasure. Director Chomet clearly shares that view. As a result, A Magnificent Life comes across as an homage as much as a documentary.
I wrote an extended piece on The Marseille Trilogy back in April 2020, as part of my series entitled Stuff to Watch at Home During a Pandemic. You may not have seen any of those films, but you have likely heard of Alice Waters’ famed restaurant Chez Panisse, or perhaps her Cafe Fanny, or maybe Chez Panisse offshoot César, now closed and replaced by Bar Panisse. Panisse, Fanny and César are all key characters in the trilogy, of which Waters was and is clearly a big fan. So am I. If you’d like to check out my review of The Marseille Trilogy, here’s a link.
Perhaps the best thing about
A Magnificent Life is that it spends a good third of its running time, essentially the entire second act, showing how the Trilogy came about, difficulties with the American production company funding the project, and the groundbreaking decision to have the characters speak in the
Marseillais dialect rather than standard French, which in turn affected how the Trilogy's sterling cast was recruited. In fact, the most interesting and fun aspect for me had to do with Pagnol’s dealings with the larger-than-life Marseille actor Raimu, whose character, César, was at the center of all three movies.
The animation is also lovely. It's more realistic, less exaggerated than Chomet's's earlier films, although the characters' faces retain a bit of the grotesque and are very expressive.
The other interesting thing about the film is how it’s framed. It starts in 1955 when sixty-year-old Marcel Pagnol, whose best cinematic work is seemingly behind him, accepts an assignment from Elle magazine to write a series of articles about his childhood – only to find that remembering the early part of his life is unexpectedly tough. So hard, in fact, that the usually prolific writer finds himself with a bad case of writer’s block. Until he is rescued by the appearance of “Little Marcel” – an imagined image of himself as a boy - who commences to guide his elder self, rekindling his recollection of key moments in his life and career. These reminiscences make up the film retrospective we get to see. And it explains the French title:
Marcel et Monsieur Pagnol.
There are some problems, however. For one thing, the film does little to make you care about Pagnol; you need to bring that care to the film yourself. Additionally, A Magnificent Life tries to pack way too much biographical information into too short a time – just ninety minutes to encapsulate a lifetime of accomplishment. The film tries to compensate by speeding up the passage of time, thus short-changing many of Pagnol’s formative moments and the great man’s other works. For one example, the third segment of the Trilogy – César – barely gets a mention; for another, his career post-1955, including several very successful novels, is largely ignored.
I found the movie lovely to look at and kind of interesting (for reasons stated above), but not especially compelling. So, unless you are French, a devotee of The Marseille Trilogy, or a cinephile lover of animation, you may find it hard to love this movie.
1 hour 30 minutes
Grade: B-
Widely released on March 27, 2026, but after one week, showing only only at select theaters; expected on streaming and PPV (rental) platforms within about two to four weeks
