Marcel Pagnol

César

César

In the final chapter of The Marseille Trilogy, Marcel Pagnol returns his compassionate gaze to his weathered characters as they discover the possibility of reconciliation and the durability of love. Leaping forward twenty years, the trilogy continues with the death of Fanny’s husband, Panisse, and the discovery of her secret by her son, Césariot. The young man resolves to track down his biological father, Marius, whose life has been fraught with calamity and poverty. The only film in the trilogy written expressly for the screen and directed by Pagnol, César resolves the protagonists’ star-crossed destinies with the garrulous wit and understated naturalism that have made this epic love story a landmark of humanist filmmaking.

Film Info

  • France
  • 1936
  • 141 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.37:1
  • French
  • Spine #884

Available In

Collector's Set

The Marseille Trilogy

The Marseille Trilogy

Blu-ray Box Set

3 Discs

$79.96

Collector's Set

The Marseille Trilogy

The Marseille Trilogy

DVD Box Set

4 Discs

$79.96

César
Cast
Raimu
César Ollivier
Pierre Fresnay
Marius Ollivier
Orane Demazis
Fanny Panisse
Fernand Charpin
Honoré Panisse
Alida Rouffe
Honorine Cabanis
Paul Dullac
Félix Escartefigue
André Fouché
Césariot
Milly Mathis
Claudine
Robert Vattier
Monsieur Brun
Édouard Delmont
Dr. Venelle
Thommeray
Elzéar the priest
Credits
Director
Marcel Pagnol
Screenplay
Marcel Pagnol
Line producer
Charles Pons
Cinematography
Willy Faktorovitch
Editor
Suzanne de Troeye
Set decorator
Galibert
Music
Vincent Scotto

Current

Almost a Love Story: Raimu and Marcel Pagnol
Almost a Love Story: Raimu and Marcel Pagnol

The great playwright and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol found an abiding muse in the great music-hall veteran Raimu, and the two created some of the most enduring works of early French cinema.

The Marseille Trilogy: Life Goes to the Movies
The Marseille Trilogy: Life Goes to the Movies

At the dawn of sound cinema, French theater titan Marcel Pagnol immortalized his epic vision of his native Provence in three exquisite humanist dramas.

By Michael Atkinson