You can tell that the story of "Fanny" was written by a man because the female title character is there for no other reason than to serve the needs of all the men around her, while remaining emotionally faithful to a man who doesn't deserve her devotion.
Fanny is a young girl, living in a fishing village. Her only friends are old men, one of whom, a very recently-widowed Panisse, is relentlessly courting her. Fanny has been in love with Marius, the son of the local bar-owner, since they were children, but apparently Marius is oblivious to her feelings.
Marius longs to go to sea and the morning after Fanny finally professes her love for him -- and they spend the night together -- he leaves, but only after Fanny tells him she doesn't mind that he leaves her.
When Fanny finds out that she is with child her mother suggests that she accept Panisse's proposal of marriage to avoid scandal and disgrace, and when Panisse finds out about the baby he is overjoyed that he will finally have a son and his family's name will continue. Fanny is happy that her baby will have a father, even if she doesn't love the man she will marry.
Marius comes back on the baby's first birthday and demands to have his son but Panisse is adamant that he is the baby's father because of all the love he has given the boy. The debate between the natural father and the adoptive father continues while the mother, Fanny, remains quietly in the background. She eventually opens her mouth, but only to tell Marius that she still dreams of being with him.
Several years later the boy, Cesario, becomes curious about this man Marius, the mere mention of whose name creates all kinds of discomfort among everyone. Cesario tells his parents that he would love to go to sea like Marius did. By chance he ends up meeting Marius, who has been living just a few miles away all this time, yet never let anyone know where he was.
Panisse is on the verge of death and with his last bit of strength dictates a letter to Marius, asking him to marry Fanny and take care of his son when he is gone, and Fanny is happy that she will finally be allowed to be with the man she always loved.
Fanny is used by every man she encounters. Marius loves her but he takes advantage of her knowing full well that he will be leaving her a few hours later. When he goes to sea he never writes to her, and when she confronts him with this fact a year later he tells her he wrote letters but tore them up and then gets angry with her for not being the one to write to him. She tells him that she was trying to be noble in telling him it was okay for him to leave, but that she secretly thought he would turn around and come back to her. He doesn't apologize for not realizing what she did -- indeed he has no answer for her at all -- yet it doesn't change her feelings for him.
At first glance Panisse seems to be the answer to Fanny's dilemma, but he is more concerned with his own reputation and business than her feelings, and on his death bed he confesses that he had affairs with his employees rather than bother his wife in bed. He is devoted to his son yet seems to all but ignore the woman who gave him that son. Yes, he has given her a fine life, full of big houses and nice clothes, but we get the impression she is nothing more than his son's caretaker.
Even Fanny's son, Cesario, gives a hint that he will be no more considerate of his mother than any other man has been. He has apparently inherited his natural father's wanderlust, and we are left to believe that one day soon he too will abandon her.
Yet Fanny remains true to all these men. Even after ten years of being ignored by Marius, she is still, amazingly, emotionally devoted to him. Even after being married to Panisse for ten years she never questions why he has never been bothered by the lack of physical intimacy between them or where else he might be finding sexual solace.
Believe me, only a man would think that a woman would behave like this.
Other than the male fantasy aspect of this film I was distracted by the score. Never having seen the stage play, I kept expecting someone to break out in song as the music swelled in the background and was slightly disappointed when they didn't. Perhaps if it had been a musical instead of a straight drama I might have been able to overlook how unbelievable the story was.
The film deals with the rather shocking (at the time) problem of an unwed mother, yet even in that regard the woman's feelings about it are glossed-over and dismissed by the men around her. They use her problem as their solution; she's not even allowed to choose a name for her own child!
Leslie Caron was lovely, but did we really need that many Vaseline-smeared close-ups of her face? Horst Buchholz was appropriately brooding as Marius but the best part of the movie, for me, was the interaction between Maurice Chevalier and Charles Boyer; you could tell these were two characters who had been friends for many, many years and loved each other, even as they were constantly bickering and arguing.
I'm glad I finally got to see this film since it is a classic, but once is enough for me.
Fanny is a young girl, living in a fishing village. Her only friends are old men, one of whom, a very recently-widowed Panisse, is relentlessly courting her. Fanny has been in love with Marius, the son of the local bar-owner, since they were children, but apparently Marius is oblivious to her feelings.
Marius longs to go to sea and the morning after Fanny finally professes her love for him -- and they spend the night together -- he leaves, but only after Fanny tells him she doesn't mind that he leaves her.
When Fanny finds out that she is with child her mother suggests that she accept Panisse's proposal of marriage to avoid scandal and disgrace, and when Panisse finds out about the baby he is overjoyed that he will finally have a son and his family's name will continue. Fanny is happy that her baby will have a father, even if she doesn't love the man she will marry.
Marius comes back on the baby's first birthday and demands to have his son but Panisse is adamant that he is the baby's father because of all the love he has given the boy. The debate between the natural father and the adoptive father continues while the mother, Fanny, remains quietly in the background. She eventually opens her mouth, but only to tell Marius that she still dreams of being with him.
Several years later the boy, Cesario, becomes curious about this man Marius, the mere mention of whose name creates all kinds of discomfort among everyone. Cesario tells his parents that he would love to go to sea like Marius did. By chance he ends up meeting Marius, who has been living just a few miles away all this time, yet never let anyone know where he was.
Panisse is on the verge of death and with his last bit of strength dictates a letter to Marius, asking him to marry Fanny and take care of his son when he is gone, and Fanny is happy that she will finally be allowed to be with the man she always loved.
Fanny is used by every man she encounters. Marius loves her but he takes advantage of her knowing full well that he will be leaving her a few hours later. When he goes to sea he never writes to her, and when she confronts him with this fact a year later he tells her he wrote letters but tore them up and then gets angry with her for not being the one to write to him. She tells him that she was trying to be noble in telling him it was okay for him to leave, but that she secretly thought he would turn around and come back to her. He doesn't apologize for not realizing what she did -- indeed he has no answer for her at all -- yet it doesn't change her feelings for him.
At first glance Panisse seems to be the answer to Fanny's dilemma, but he is more concerned with his own reputation and business than her feelings, and on his death bed he confesses that he had affairs with his employees rather than bother his wife in bed. He is devoted to his son yet seems to all but ignore the woman who gave him that son. Yes, he has given her a fine life, full of big houses and nice clothes, but we get the impression she is nothing more than his son's caretaker.
Even Fanny's son, Cesario, gives a hint that he will be no more considerate of his mother than any other man has been. He has apparently inherited his natural father's wanderlust, and we are left to believe that one day soon he too will abandon her.
Yet Fanny remains true to all these men. Even after ten years of being ignored by Marius, she is still, amazingly, emotionally devoted to him. Even after being married to Panisse for ten years she never questions why he has never been bothered by the lack of physical intimacy between them or where else he might be finding sexual solace.
Believe me, only a man would think that a woman would behave like this.
Other than the male fantasy aspect of this film I was distracted by the score. Never having seen the stage play, I kept expecting someone to break out in song as the music swelled in the background and was slightly disappointed when they didn't. Perhaps if it had been a musical instead of a straight drama I might have been able to overlook how unbelievable the story was.
The film deals with the rather shocking (at the time) problem of an unwed mother, yet even in that regard the woman's feelings about it are glossed-over and dismissed by the men around her. They use her problem as their solution; she's not even allowed to choose a name for her own child!
Leslie Caron was lovely, but did we really need that many Vaseline-smeared close-ups of her face? Horst Buchholz was appropriately brooding as Marius but the best part of the movie, for me, was the interaction between Maurice Chevalier and Charles Boyer; you could tell these were two characters who had been friends for many, many years and loved each other, even as they were constantly bickering and arguing.
I'm glad I finally got to see this film since it is a classic, but once is enough for me.