Sunday, August 5, 2012

My Afternoons with Margueritte

I usually don't post about movies I've seen. In fact, I've only posted once before about a movie that John & I very much enjoy seeing from time to time after which I decided that I would never post about a movie again  : ) However, last night for our Saturday Night Movie Night John chose a French film called My Afternoons With Margueritte.

If you don't like simple, slow moving stories ... & if you don't like watching movies with subtitles ... then this movie isn't for you.  John & I, however, love these types of movies.  The description for this movie is as follows:

"My Afternoons with Margueritte is the story of life's random encounters.  In a small French town, Germain, a nearly illiterate man in his 50s & considered to be the village idiot by his friends at the local bistro, takes a walk to the park one day & happens to sit beside Margueritte, a little old lady who is reading excerpts from her novel aloud.  She's articulate, highly intelligent & frail.  Between Germain & Margueritte there are 40 years & 200 pounds difference.  Germain is lured by Margueritte's passion for life & the magic of literature from which he has always felt excluded.  As Margueritte broadens his mind via reading excerpts from her novel, Germain realizes that he is more of an intellectual than he has ever allowed himself to be.  Afternoons spent reading aloud on their favorite bench transform their lives & start them both on a new journey ... to literacy & respect for Germain, & to the deepest friendship for Margueritte."

The movie makes you smile, it makes you sad (I cried), & toward the end it surprises you. Not at the very end because you kind of see what's coming but you are really surprised at one point before you get there   : ) 

I miss life being simple.  I'm sure some would quickly point out to me that life has never been simple, but the older I get, the more simple I think it used to be.  I have always wondered why people enjoy watching movies with horrible characters who do horrible things.  Aren't there enough horrible characters doing horrible things in the world today?  When I watch a movie, I don't want to watch the bad things in life that I see going on around me every day.  As my blog description reads, I like to "...remember when the pace was slower, times were gentler, people were kinder, & the love of God & home were top priorities in life."  Of course there have been horrible characters doing horrible things since the beginning of time. No era has escaped them.  But it seems that the majority of people in years gone by (not all people but the majority of them) were good neighbors, good friends, good church goers, & good community members ... people who treasured their families ... people who believed in honesty & integrity & hard work & manners & respect.  What happened that caused things to deteriorate to what they are today?

Sorry ... I got a bit on a soapbox there   : )   All I intended to say is this ... if you enjoy a simple, slow moving story & you don't mind subtitles, I think you will enjoy My Afternoons with Margueritte.  

12 comments:

TheCrankyCrow said...

Ha! You must have read my mind - I was going to ask you what you watched last night - for some reason that question kept coming to my mind. Sounds like an intriguing film. Definitely NOT my husband's thing (doesn't like slow moving, and the subtitles would drive him nutty.....), but sounds like my cup of tea.

Ahhhh....yes. I so hear ya Girlfriend. Sometimes I turn on Andy Griffith - not because I'm a huge fan of the show necessarily, but just to catch a glimpse of those simpler times. For our generation, we can still reach back in our memories and catch glimpses here and there - but I wonder about the next generation. Or will their childhoods seem "simpler, slower" to them as well???

Smiles & Simple Hugs ~ Robin

butterfly said...

looks a good film, like you I like a film that you can cry with and laugh, hate the ones with killings not many good ones any more, I like a good story . We make one or two good one's and lots and lots of rubbish ones.

Judy said...

Oh, I think I would love the movie. I am a basic romantic comedy girl, or just a good heartfelt story--no evil, no nudity, no crap! Hard to come by these days. Glad I love to stitch and not watch much TV.

Judy heartland stitcher

cucki said...

aww sound like a lovely film..i will look for it too here..
have a lovely sunday xx

Trace4J said...

Sounds wonderful to me too.
I will have to look for it.
I love movies.
And simplier things.
Thanks for sharing.
Hugs
Trace


www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com

Vickie said...

I'm with you Shirlee! I have not seen a movie in over a year. JUNK! We too watch Andy Griffith occasionally. Was just whistling the theme song to the parakeet this afternoon actually. Even he loves it! HA ;)

Peggy Lee said...

This sounds like a wonderful movie. I'm pretty sure Masterchief wouldn't care for the subtitles but I would be willing to give it a go.

I feel the same way about TV today. Why do I need to watch a reality show when all I need to do is go to the mall or the grocery store to see it every day? There's enough drama in the world without me inviting more in to my home/life.

You just hop up on that soapbox anytime you feel the itch!

:o)

marly said...

The deterioration of the family, respect, and accountability. Simple as that.

Chris said...

Sounds like a lovely movie.
I think things used to be simpler too.

Janet P said...

That film sounds just my cup of tea. I love watching old films it reminds me of (I think) better times. No sex and violence or foul language.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

I think the main difference now is that we don't keep quiet about it, we talk about it and bring it into the open.
In the past there was much more domestic violence, it was the norm to beat your wife and children. Now women are less likely to tolerate abusive relationships, we have the freedom to get out whereas in the past they had no choice but to stay.
There's more divorce because we are independent, we can keep our children rather than having to leave them behind. So many women stayed in bad marriages because they would lose their children if they left.
There are more babies being kept by their teenager parents because we no longer forcibly remove them at birth (this happened to two of my friends as recently as the 1980s!!)
The world isn't perfect but I don't think it ever was. I think the media is to blame for people's perceptions of the world, they twist the truth by printing what sells. The vast majority of people are kind and decent living quietly happy lives but that's not so interesting to read about!
One of my favourite radio stations is Radio 2 because the people that ask for dedications are so normal!
OK, off my soap box now...how's the stitching going? LOL.

Laura Tesoricountry said...

I'm with you Shirlee!
(I'm on vacation in these days and I'm reading for the second time that book you sent me!!)
Laura