A family that makes weekly trips to the French countryside decides to reduce the trip time by cutting through the properties of some neighbors, leading to conflicts. Based on Pagnol's autobiographical novel about his youth, this is a gentle family film that is enjoyable enough but fails to become anything more than a pleasant diversion. The tone is low-key, and perhaps too much so. The coda, where the story flashes forward from the protagonist's childhood to adulthood, seems tacked on and rather ludicrous. Pagnol's novels "Jean de Florette" and "Magnon of the Spring" were turned into fabulous films, but this novel does not translate as well to the screen.
Review of My Mother's Castle
