My Father’s Glory

Venue: BYU International Cinema

Release Year: 1990

Length: 105 Minutes

Director: Yves Robert

Language: French with English Subtitles

Medium: Original Reel

This is one of the best films I have seen in a long long time. It reminds me of the memoir “Driving Over Lemons,” which was a wonderful book. Overall, I think it was the story of a boy growing up. It begins when he is 3 or 4 and, just like life at that age, does not have a distinct plot or conflict. It just plods along and is enjoyable to watch. Marcel is a smart boy who teaches himself to read, but his aunt will not let him read because she does not want his brain to explode. This introduces the first of many conflicts in the movie. That of child v. adult, which can be extrapolated to man v. authority. It is one that, as a child, I had plenty of issues with because I thought I was much smarter and better than the way most adults treated me. His father gets a job in the city and this portion shows the great adaptability most children posses. As he grows older, he learns to lie. Then he realizes that adults can lie to and it is a huge blow to his world. Later on he plans on lying to his little brother and his uncle tells him “you can lie to children if it’s for their own good.” At this point we see that, while during the first half of the movie adults lie to Marcel, now Marcel has grown up enough to lie to his little brother. This once again is the conflict of authority v. man. Knowledge provides authority and the opportunity to lie. It is interesting how knowledge can provide the opportunity for so much good but also for so much bad. There is an opposition in all things, we must decide which side we want to be on. another example of this man v. authority is that of teacher  v. pupil where, often times the pupil is smarter than the teacher or smarter than the teacher thinks. We see this as Marcel goes through school and is forced to conform with those who cannot read, while he can read very well. We also see this as a conflict not just for little kids, as Marcel originally thinks. Throughout his whole life Marcel has looked at his father in wonder and amazement because of his omniscience. When Uncle Jules teaches Marcel’s father how to hunt, Marcel is amazed that there is something his father does not know, and once again his world is changed forever. At the end, Marcel says about his father, “I’d caught my superman in the act of being human. And Loved him even more for it.” It is interesting to see the progression of knowledge. At first we have a small amount of knowledge and we are content in our ignorance. Later on we gain more knowledge and we become lost and confused. Many people live their lives in this stage and consider ignorance as bliss. But the lucky ones can press forward and get enough knowledge that they are no longer confused in a way that they wish they were back at the beginning. They accept their confusion, learn to live with it, thrive with it, and bring on more of it. At this point we are smart enough that we are childlike and happy as we were before, but we are also much more knowledgeable and better off.
A few more interesting quotes:
“However terrific you are, fate can let you down.”
“You’re not a baby. Life isn’t all fun.”