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I'm surprised since this film is good and available with English and German subtitles. It's part one of a trilogy about the fortunes of a number of vendors in Marseilles port. Part one concerns Marius, son of the bar owner Cesar, and his deeply held desire to go to sea and not merely live by it. His desire is thwarted from loyalty to his father and love for a local girl, Fanny, with whom he's grown up.

The Pagnol story is about love and attachment set in a bustling costal community. It touches not only on love but on the sacrifices love sometimes requires and makes. Marius longs for distant places reached by boat and where wood smells of camphor and pepper. He yearns to marry the sea. Fanny loves Marius with all her being since she was knee-high to a grasshoper.

Surrounding our troubled lovers are a wealth of characters from the choleric Cesar to the pragmatic Panisse. It's a terrific play of words and character. My only criticism of the film is that some of the scenes were shot in a way that bored me. I might as well have been listening to the audio book instead of watching a film at these points.

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.

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