My Father's Glory (La Gloire de Mon Pere) (1990)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Main Menu Audio Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1990
Running Time	106:20
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Yves Robert
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Philippe Caubère Nathalie Roussel Didier Pain Thérèse Liotard Julien Ciamaca Victorien Delamare Joris Molinas Benoît Martin Paul Crauchet Pierre Maguelon Michel Modo Jean Rougerie Jean-Pierre Darras
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$24.95	Music	Vladimir Cosma

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Do you remember the day that you first realised your parents were fallible, even if only in a small way? Well this warm and beautifully told French film (Original title La gloire de mon père) regales the audience with the story of such a time in the life of a young boy in the early 1900s. It is a very rare thing in this day and age to have a G rated film which was not made specifically for a kids audience but, I suppose to be fair this film and its sequel were made in 1990. This is a lovely film filled with humour, drama, love, joy and the natural beauty of the hills of Provence. It is a joy to watch and leaves you smiling. It captures the joys, adventures and tribulations of childhood without resorting to schmaltz or cheesiness that I am sure an American production of the same story would slip into.

    The story was written by famous French writer Marcel Pagnol and is based on his own childhood memories. Marcel is a generally happy young boy who lives with his schoolteacher father Joseph and his beautiful mother Augustine in an apartment above his father's small regional school house. Before the main story begins we see a extra child, Paul born into the family, Joseph moving schools as his career progresses and Marcel helping his Aunt Rose meet and fall for civil servant, Jules. The main part of the story focuses on a decision by Jules and Joseph to take the families for a summer holiday in the hills of Provence. They rent a small house and as they are not well off they must take trams and walk many kilometres before they arrive. This holiday leads to adventure, new friendships, discoveries and fun for Marcel, Paul and the families as they enjoy their time in the hills. The title refers to a moment in the film when Marcel's faith and pride in his father is restored after some less impressive moments. The second film, My Mother's Castle follows straight on from a story perspective and will be the subject of a subsequent review. The films seem to have been made at the same time.

    As I said above this is a joyful film about childhood, family and the simple pleasures of life. It includes some beautiful cinematography of the magnificent scenery in the hills of Provence and also wonderful costumes which were Cesar nominated. It was directed by veteran French film director/actor/writer/producer Yves Robert.

    If you like your cinema with simple pleasures, humour, fun and adventure this film is highly recommended.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in an approximately 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is most likely close to the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced widescreen.Unfortunately, my DVD-ROM drive would not recognise this disc so I am unable to confirm the aspect ratio.

    The picture was surprisingly clear and sharp for a film of this age. Shadow detail was decent but never great. There was occasional very light grain. There were also some minor MPEG artefacts during fast movement.

    The colour was well rendered and vibrant representing the the beautiful cinematography well.

    There were no other noticeable artefacts.

    There are yellow subtitles in English. They were clear and easy to read although a slightly different translation to those on the trailer.

    The layer change was not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio is quite good.

    This DVD contains a French Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack.

    Dialogue seemed clear and easy to understand throughout although my French is limited.

    The music consists of a beautiful score by Vladimir Cosma which was Cesar nominated.

    The surround speakers provided a surprising amount of ambience when played using ProLogic II and the subwoofer added bass to the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu is still and includes music from the score. Scene selection is available.

Theatrical Trailer (2:03) 

    In French with subtitles.

Madman Propaganda 

    Trailers for other films and an anti-piracy warning.

    The Region 1 release of this movie is very similar to our local release except that it adds optional French & Spanish subtitles and an optional English dub. Draw.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio is quite good.

    Only a theatrical trailer in the extras department.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall