When french films decide to be emotional, they get really freakin’ emotional, and that is absolutely the case with My Afternoons With Margueritte. I watched this with my mom a little while ago, and it made me all warm and happy inside. Totally recommend it.
The story is about a young man, Germain, who is a little different from the others; he just has a bit more trouble thinking about things and understanding them. It doesn’t help at all that his bitter mother treats him like an idiot (it makes him think he really is one, which is far from the truth). Also, no matter what his teachers did in his school years, it all came down to the fact that he simply cannot read. Not if his life depends on it.
Despite all, people still like him for his endearing and pure personality, and for his unyielding loyalty. He is just one of those truly good people, and even though he sometimes says the wrong thing, they know it is always with the best of intentions.
One afternoon (quite a frustrating one for this poor fellow), he decides to relax a little at a park bench, where he sometimes goes to watch pigeons (he in fact gave each pigeon a name, and knows them apart). There, he meets 95-year old Margueritte, and so begins an unexpected and lovely friendship between the two.
Margueritte loves to read; she has read every book a person can think of, and when she meets Germain, she decides she will read those books to him, since he cannot do that himself. She also decides she will try to teach him how to read, even if everyone else has given up.
Watch to see what happens!!! 🙂 It’s really beautiful, I promise. You will be touched by how the story unfolds. Not to count that Germain is played by none other than the legend, Gérard Depardieu, which is reason enough to watch anything.
OKAY BYE!
Worthless Scoundrels 