The Marseille Trilogy (Marius / Fanny / César) (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

This is a beautiful restoration of an wonderful story. It is old, and the first one clearly still has both feet in theater, but as one of the first french talking movies it was an experimental work. Clearly it would have been edited differently nowadays. But the long sequences help provide the atmosphere of the old Marseille and the way people thought and interacted at the time. I had read the story several times many years ago and seen the movie several times also, but the restoration really makes it much more "contemporaneous". Raimu became incredibly famous from this set of performances and if you can listen to the French version by turning of the caption, his delightful Southern French accent is memorable. Many touching pearls also: The baby had grown "5Kg of love, and love is very light, so it takes a lot of love to grow that much".... One of those movie like Casablanca that one can review many times and still marvel at it ... you will not be dissapointed. The closed captioning though is messed up, in one disk it had to be turn ON twice before working and on the other 2 it had to be turn OFF in order to work... Strange !

Yes the new restoration look fantastic and yes, there are some very good extras in this set... HOWEVER... while there seems to be some bits of footage added to all 3 films, there is also footage that has been omitted from earlier, unrestored releases of The Trilogy (KINO's release for example). The most egregious being in "Cesar" - where footage has been cut (why?) from the wonderful scene in the bar between Cesar and Cesariot. What gives Criterion? If one is going to go to all the trouble to restore these classically eternal films, why not go the distance? Still, for those of you who have never experienced this masterpiece of early talking films you will be well-rewarded with your purchase.

I am a long time lover of french cinema, so I am glad I did watch all three of these famous films. The best films I have ever seen were directed by the great masters; Jean-Pierre Melville, Becker, Bresson, Clouzot, and even Renoir. As a review or two I read about this trilogy stated; This is theater brought to film. It seems to me more like a soap opera from the late 20`s & 30`s that was very popular. Panol himself disagrees with this assessment in one of the special features. There are some beautiful exteriors of the port of Marseille in the film, therefore I give three stars, the acting is superb also. If this was a Michelin rating, it would be the highest.

Marcel Pignol finally gets a true showing of his films in this trilogy. It is a refection of life in Marseille France in the turn of the century. Shown in blue ray with captive sound and photography this makes the earlier production look rough and not ready. Two films from his stories " My Fathers Glory" and "MY Mother's Castle" were made in the early 1990's present the essence of Marcels life growing up in southern France. They represent the talent of young Marcel living in a rustic area of Southern France which reflect upon his intelligence and witness of life which carried him to adulthood. This trilogy is a collectors item for many reasons. It shows what Marcel can do as a film maker and is of historic interest as a representation of life in Marseille, France at the turn of the century.

A collection you will watch for the rest of your life. Beautifully remastered, with outstanding extras on every blue-ray disc. You pay for greatness and here you get it many times over.

One of the best french movie of the history. The 4 k restoration is simply fantastic.

One of the true masterpieces of cinema that belongs on the shelf of any true film lover

A real window into the past and a good story.

Amateur de film français. Je suis satisfaite du coffret de belle qualité.