The Baker's Wife [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Marcel Pagnol Marcel Pagnol

Overview

The Baker's Wife (La Femme de Boulanger), though based on a novel by Jean Giono, was specially tailored by writer/director Marcel Pagnol for the talents of the incomparable Raimu. The star plays the new baker in the French community of Provence. One of Raimu's first customers is shepherd Charles Moulin, who is immediately smitten by the middle-aged baker's young, toothsome wife Ginette LeClerc. In short order, Ginette runs off with Moulin, a turn of events that the stubborn Raimu refuses to acknowledge. As he grows more taciturn, he neglects his work, and soon the whole village anxiously awaits the wife's return, else they'll never see another loaf of bread. The local Marquis (Charpin) takes matters in hand by leading the townsfolk in a search party for the wayward wife. The charms of The Baker's Wife are both captivating and fragile; an attempt in 1976 to turn the property into a Broadway musical proved the fragility by ignoring the charm.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/16/2019
UPC:	0715515232012
Original Release:	1938
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:14:00
Sales rank:	18,867

Special Features

New selected-scene audio commentary featuring Marcel Pagnol scholar Brett Bowles Introduction by Pagnol from 1967 Excerpt from a 1966 interview with Pagnol for the French television series Cinéastes de notre temps Short French news program from 1976 revisiting the village of Le Castellet, where the film was shot

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Raimu	Aimable Castanier
Ginette Leclerc	Aurélie Castanier
Charles Moulin	Dominique
Robert Vattier	The Cure
Robert Bassac	The School Teacher
Fernand Charpin	The Marquis
Maximilienne	Melle Angèle
Maupi	Barnabe
Odette Roger	Miette
Alida Rouffe	The priest's servant
Robert Brassac	The Schoolteacher
Charles Blavette	Antonin
Edouard Delmont	Maillefer
Julien Maffre	Petugne
Vincent Scotto	Composer

Technical Credits

Marcel Pagnol

Raymond Hakim	Producer,Producer
Marcel Pagnol	Director,Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

The Baker's Wife is a movie with a core of delicacy and fragility contained beneath a boisterous surface. In terms of plot, there is hardly anything special about it, but Baker is about much more than its sparse story. It's about the love, loneliness and redemption, about the power to hurt and the power to heal, and about the importance of connecting both with another person and with a group of people. Pagnol gets these themes across in a subtle manner (for the most part), so that their lessons are absorbed rather than observed by the viewer. He also creates a wonderfully realized community, full of supporting characters who are so precisely defined that they come across as living people rather than caricatures. More importantly, he has created a solid anchor around which to build the film -- and has had the good fortune of getting the invaluable Raimu to inhabit Aimable the baker. Raimu's performance is pure gold; there is never a false note, never a moment when the actor is not perfectly in tune with the character. And yet the performance never feels studied; indeed, there are moments that startle and delight by their unexpectedness. Most importantly, Raimu makes the audience feel the intense love and devotion he has for his wife and allows them to believe that he will take her back. It's a rich performance that grows in complexity with repeated viewings. Baker is a fine accomplishment on all levels, but it is Raimu's contribution which raises it to art.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler