Parky's Pics: THE GROCER'S SON
Welcome back to Parky’s Pics, our new season of films picked by film critic David Parkinson. We hope you enjoyed the first in the series, the re-release of JULES ET JIM. Our second offering is the delightful coming-of-age story THE GROCER'S SON (12A).
Recalling Marcel Pagnol's humanist charmer THE BAKER'S WIFE (1938) with its sly town-and-country contrasts, this is a film that delights in rejuvenating stereotypes and clichés. Scowling at everyone including amorous neighbour Clotilde Hesmé, Nicolas Cazalé makes an archetypal prodigal son, as he returns from Paris to run his ailing father's mobile grocery. However, director Eric Guirado resists wholly reforming him and, thus, his rite of passage feels all the more credible. Beautifully photographed by Laurent Brunet, this considered comedy has much to say about the dynamics of family life, the incertitude of the rural idyll and the place of tradition in a globalised society.
David Parkinson has been a film critic for over 25 years. In addition to publishing several books on cinema, he also reviews for Empire and the Radio Times, and produces the Parky at the Pictures pages for the Oxford Times (http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/opinions/blogs/).
