PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

paulccarroll3 I just ran across this film on cable TV and had not heard anything about it and was pleased by its gentle,humorous story. I won't go into plot details,but would like to comment on how so many reviewers mention that this kind of film is almost only done in French cinema. Even while I was watching this film I was remind of the film Fried Green Tomatoes,in which an older woman helps a younger woman become more confident in her middle aged life through flashback tales of her early 1900's,rural youth and loves.That film is full of love between a young woman and her family,between the black family that lives with them,and between the girl that she rescues from a bad marriage,and the child that they raise together.Another reviewer also mentioned Driving Miss Daisy,a film that's about the loving relationship that develops between a widow and her chauffeur.There's also the Before Sunrise films and many others. So I do think that fairly small films exploring close relationships aren't the sole oeuvre of the French. I would like to see a American version of this story. Would Betty White be a good fit for a role that's not too comic? Who should play Germain? I hope His love interest would be not quite so much younger than him.

IndustriousAngel We missed this french production in theaters and only saw this on DVD later, and now we're watching it every few months. The story is rather simple, and the concept of two outsiders building a friendship and mastering life better as a result is not really new. However, with human drama, the performances of the actors are what makes a film tick, and here everything comes together perfectly. Gérard Depardieu (as Germain) and Gisèle Casadesus (as Margueritte) are the contrasting pair - he heavy-built, strong and slow, she frail and old but with a very agile mind. Those two have great chemistry, and every smile and gesture makes you love them some more. Germain's girlfriend and mother are important and are played to perfection, too. The music by Laurent Voulzy is beautiful; camera and light catch the atmosphere very well and the comedy elements are not overemphasized. And with 75 minutes running-time, they showed restraint and didn't blow up this small, but lovable story out of proportion. Highly recommended!

WilliamCKH Jean Becker would never be able to make a living as a filmmaker in America. This should not be taken as a critique of him as a filmmaker, rather as a critique of America. This thought came into my mind as I sat virtually alone (with 2 others) in a 200 seat theatre, located in a booming city of over a million, on a Sunday evening, during the first week's release of his latest film MY AFTERNOONS WITH MARGUERITTE. How sad it is to see such a film virtually unnoticed here in the states. Oh well,....The film tells the story of Germain, played very subtly by Depardieu, who is a gentle giant, a bit slow, but lovable. He lives with an abusive mother, makes a living doing odd jobs around town, spends his free time gardening and drinking with his friends, has a girlfriend whom he adores, and is very much content with his life. One day he meets Margueritte, a woman of 95, sitting alone in the park, reading and feeding the pigeons. A friendship blossoms. They have conversations, exchanging their views on life, she reads to him and even persuades him to pick up a book himself.Marguerite is content with life, although lonely. She lives at a home for the aged, paid for by a distant relative. Germain gives her a companion, someone to share with the ups and downs of everyday life. She has seen and done much and now is ready to live out the rest of her days quietly. The ending of the film is quite wonderful and I will not spoil it for the reader. Like the ending of Becker's last widely released film CONVERSATIONS WITH MY GARDNER, it may appear to be overly sentimental. It shouldn't. It would be wonderful if more movies ended in such an upbeat way, celebrating life and the joys that simple human kindness can create.As I try to go back over the film's many details, I find in it so much beauty and wisdom, the kind that is so much needed, but missing from modern life...

chaz-28 Germain (Gerard Depardieu) is not illiterate. He knows how to read and write, but he really prefers not to. For one, he is not very good at reading, he goes slowly and he uses his finger to follow the lines across the page. However, his comprehension is pretty good, especially when someone reads aloud to him. He imagines the scene in his mind and if the reader is describing rats in the street he can see those rats squirming around in enough detail that it makes him uncomfortable. Not being a big fan of reading and not being known as any sort of intellectual at his local bar is just fine by Germain. He is a town handyman, a very capable gardener, appreciates his girlfriend, and is not depressed about his station in life.His station isn't very high either. He lives in a trailer behind his mother's house and makes ends meet by being good with his hands, be it woodworking or gardening. One advantage to not having a steady 9-5 job is lunch in the park. Germain enjoys making a sandwich and leisurely eating it on his favorite park bench where he can monitor the pigeons. He goes there enough to know that in fact there are 19 usual pigeons hanging around and he even has names for all of them. It is here in the park where he meets 95 year old Margueritte (Gisele Casadesus). The park gives her a chance to escape the old folks home for a bit and read out in the sunlight.Margueritte and Germain strike up a pleasant friendship where she reads aloud and he appreciates the stories. This is the first time in his life someone has ever taken the time to talk with him one on one about stories, how they make you feel, and what the author may have been thinking about. Germain has bad memories from his childhood, both from an unfriendly school and an uninterested mother. Margueritte sees through his thick exterior and recognizes a kind of kindred spirit, one who really appreciates a good story and crisp sentences. In another life and with decent surroundings, Margueritte surmises Germain could have been an author himself.All of these new ideas, books, and learning makes his life a bit more uncomfortable. His friends at the bar notice his vocabulary is raising a notch or two and his girlfriend Annette (Sophie Guillemin) is starting to wonder where all of this self improvement is coming from. Give My Afternoons with Margueritte a strong point in the good script column that is sidesteps what could have been a misunderstanding with a real scene of openness, frustration, and acceptance.Gerard Depardieu gives a very strong performance here as a guy everyone likes, except his mother, and who enjoys his life in his small town. This comes off a very good performance he had last year with Inspector Bellamy. Gisele Casadesus has shown up three times in the movies in the past few months. She has bit parts in Sarah's Key and The Hedgehog and for a lady of such an advanced age, she really has a grasp on Margueritte and how she would feel towards a man approaching middle age whose earlier experiences stunted what could have been a wonderful relationship between him and the world of books. She may be the only 95 year old in France capable of still turning out a good performance which is why she is getting every single role in France which calls for one.My Afternoons with Margueritte is a very pleasant way to spend your own afternoon. Watching Germain and Margueritte plod through a Camus novel is refreshing and it is truly enjoyable to sit back and watch a script unfold which chooses to step away from cliché and focus on character and style.