"Marius" takes place in Marseilles' Old Port, at the La Marine Bar, owned by César and his son Marius. Marius' biggest dream is to embark on one of the boats passing by his dad's bar and to set off to a faraway land. Fanny, a young and pretty seafood peddler, has secretly been in love with Marius since her childhood; Marius, never admitting it, has always loved Fanny. One day, a sailor drops by La Marine and offers him a job on an exploratory ship. Trying to hold him off and to make him jealous, Fanny confesses his love to him and provokes a fight between Marius and one of César's old friends, Panisse, a boat merchant, who despite his old age, has been courting Fanny for a while. Torn between the call of the sea and his love for her, Marius abandons his dream to be with Fanny who gives herself to him. As César and Honorine, Fanny's mother, are getting ready for the wedding, Marius changes his mind, drawn back to the call of the sea.
Acting
Raphaël Personnaz makes cowardice look almost noble. Almost.
Cinematography
The Old Port glows like a postcard you'll never send.
Production
Auteuil's period reconstruction is obsessively, beautifully specific.
Director
Daniel Auteuil
Daniel Auteuil
César Olivier
Raphaël Personnaz
Marius Olivier
Jean-Pierre Darroussin
Honoré Panisse
Victoire Bélézy
Fanny Cabanis
Marie-Anne Chazel
Honorine
Nicolas Vaude
Mr. Brun
Daniel Russo
Félix Escartefigue
Rufus
'Piquoiseau'
Jean-Louis Barcelona
Innocent Mangiapan, aka 'Frisepoulet'
Charlie Nelson
Malaysia's second
Frédéric Gérard
'Amourdedieu'
Roger Souza
Master Panisse's clerk
Laurent Fernandez
First sailor of the Coromandel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Auteuil completed his Pagnol trilogy obsession here, having already adapted 'The Well-Digger's Daughter'—he's basically the unofficial guardian of Marseille's cinematic soul.
The original 1931 Pagnol play was so beloved that audiences would shout lines along with actors; Auteuil's version is reverent but deliberately more melancholic, aging the material into something sadder.
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