Review of My Afternoons with Margueritte

Depardieu is a very good actor, despite an eclectic string of characters he has played in recent times. One must consider his whole body of work, to recognize there was always the talent there, too often wasted on bad scripts and poor directing. After watching this movie, I won't be so quick to overlook more of his performances. He played with such convincing simplicity his role of Germain in the movie, I could not wait for the next scene and the next one after that. Okay the script and directing by Jean Becker is in no small way a big part of the story's appeal. Becker was born in this media and at 77 can still deliver quality work. Gisèle Casadesus in the role of Margueritte was perfect for the part; her character is the catalyst to a beautiful love story, a love of life and a life of love. Sophie Guillemin in the role of Annette, Germain's girlfriend and lover, had known the beautiful hidden side of her man, but it was Margueritte who triggered the blossoming poet in Germain. Indeed, you would not have expected the lead role of Germain to mature into a real poet, given his status in life and how practically all in his life treated and considered him an idiot (except Annette). The closing scene, Germain reads his poem of love to the late Margueritte; it's the sort of scene that will betray the romantic in all of us, okay in enough of us, to give hope to all women that there is such a thing as a loving man. This is a clear character development piece that will not fail to inspire and move the audience. You may even gage the loving factor of a person from his or her appreciation of this movie. I want to share the warmth this production made me feel by saying "Watch this movie".