A Magnificent Life

To try to capture the life and times of Marcel Pagnol in a crisp one hour and a half must have seemed a daunting task but animator Sylvain Chomet has accomplished it with skilful distinction.

For his latest foray into animation after The Illusionist in 2010 and Belleville Rendez-vous in 2003, Chomet has crafted a loving and mellow portrait of one of France’s most revered creators whether in literature, theatre, and cinema as well as his hobby as an inventor.

It is framed in flashback, starting in 1956 Paris where Pagnol, then 61, feels his work has become unfashionable and he’s looking to pursue his thirst for invention by creating a perpetual motion machine.

The editor of a magazine asks him to write a memoir although he’s not convinced that he is capable of remembering all the details. Enter Pagnol’s younger self to spur his memory and we’re off with his tentative early years in Marseille before he moved to Paris to follow his calling as a playwright. The stage sees successes of such plays as Jazz and Topaze but cinema is not far off.

On a journey to London he catches a cinema show of Hollywood’s The Broadway Melody and finds the artistic freedom afforded by the new “invention” as well as the advent of the talkies, prove an irresistible lure. He becomes convinced that motion pictures may provide a stimulating arena for his creativity.

He became one of the first directors in France to make talkies. His Marseille-based play Marius became the first adaptation for cinema followed by Fanny. Chomet dovetails seamlessly clips from the original films into the narrative.

Chomet also explores his championing of French cinema (with the imposition of tariffs on American films shown in France) and also his resistance during the Nazi occupation and a refusal to work for the “invaders.” On the personal side there is marriage to the actress Jacqueline Bouvier for whom he wrote Manon des Sources, the death of his daughter at an early age, and the passing of his friend, the actor Raimu who was the star of many of his films.

The screenplay is packed with absorbing detail of the period when cinema was born, and the pulsating atmosphere of Paris in the Twenties and Thirties. Finally it is the exquisite, hand-drawn animation that provides a constant visual feast as memories and anecdotes flow in abundance.

The production exists into separate versions - one made in English and the other in French which was the version seen for review.

A Magnificent Life has been acquired for UK and Ireland distribution by Picturehouse and for other territories by Sony Pictures Classics.

Reviewed on: 21 May 2025