Marcel Pagnol’s Marseille Trilogy

Marcel Pagnol is one of the most prolific artists from the early years of cinema. His defining works appear in a brand-new 4K restoration: the epic “Marseille Trilogy,” a heartwarming saga of love, labor, and good food in 1930s France. The series follows young barkeep Marius (Pierre Fresnay), who is in love with cockle monger Fanny (Orane Demazis) but cannot quell his wanderlust. Over the years, their romance plays out amidst provincial characters like Marius’s father, César (Raimu), who struggles to keep the family and community together; and Honoré Panisse (Fernand Charpin), the aged widower vying for Fanny’s hand.

In the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan asks, “how did these talky, admittedly theatrical films that date from the early days of the sound era end up the toast of a new century? The reasons are as fascinating and surprising as these deeply satisfying films and their humanistic concern with the demands and satisfactions of different kinds of love.”