Anyone know why ** SPOILERS**

I have no idea why they always referred to Panisse by his last name. Maybe they wanted to highlight the fact that his and fanny's relationship was not at all intimate, but a marriage of convenience. He wanted a son and she needed a name to give her son to avoid disgracing the family. As for your second question, I think that Panisse knew that Fanny had no interest in him sexually, and that she really, passionately loved Marius, so he knew there was no use in even trying. So he sought out the company of one of his employees. As for thme having children, it sounds like both Panisse brothers had fertility problems (neither of them could father children) so perhaps he knew that was an impossibility. But that's just my take on it :)


A MINICAM!!!??? - Francine Fishpaw

[deleted]

So far I've only seen the Pagnol version, which as split into 3 films to tell the whole story. Anyway in the original version, when Fanny explained about her pregnancy to Panisse, he welcomed it actually because he told how he'd been married 20-30 yrs to his first wife and had never had any children, especially a son, so I think he assumed he was sterile or maybe he was sterile in the end? So I think that plus his age diffrence to Fanny was the excuse why she never had any more children with Panisse.

However at the end of the final film, Caesar assumed that now that Fanny & Marius were reunited, perhaps they could have more children together, despite the fact they were 38 & 40 at the time.

I am an American who went to school in France, where I found that my surname was frequently used as a term of endearment. Had it not been so, I would have been addressed more formally as "Monsieur--".

"Thank you, thank you--you're most kind. In fact you're every kind."

1. Panisse is referred to by his last name because he's from a prominent family and is a successful business owner. Identifying him by his last name establishes who he is without the need for any additional explanation. It would also avoid the confusion of him being called by different names. As a form of respect, his employees, customers, and business associates would address him by his last name; his friends and family by his first. It could get a bit cumbersome since they're all within the same small community. The only thing that makes sense is for everyone to address him by his last name.

2. The writer has Panisse reveal that he and Fanny had never been intimate because it makes a lot of things clear:

-Fanny always loved and only loves Marius and was always faithful to him. This is of great importance to a man's pride. Marius is heading off to America because he can't live there anymore; it's too difficult to see his child and the woman he loves with another man. Still, when he knows Panisse is dying, he doesn't automatically decide to stay. He says, he doesn't want to walk in Panisse's slippers while they're still warm. It’s what the gossip would be but if he thinks and feels it too, it wouldn’t work.

-There's no chance the child is his. Though we already know this, it just makes it crystal clear; especially because Panisse is so insistent that the child continue to bear his name after his death. This is important because it shows Fanny did not deceive him. She was pregnant going into the marriage and married him for that reason only, not for his money; which is what she led Marius to believe she was going to do.

-Panisse is an older man but he's still virile and passionate. He showed sexual attraction to Fanny before they married. It made Marius very angry and jealous. Knowing this, it would seem a bit cruel of Fanny to neglect her husband's sexual needs. The fact we hear he was getting those needs met elsewhere is a ploy to transfer the negativity from her to him. She seems blameless even though, without cheating, she's the one who was unfaithful to the marriage.

-Technically, they weren't really married; it was in name only. These days it seems to be forgotten that marriage is basically a safe, stable, supported, secure setting into which children can be created, born, and raised. If it's also a loving environment, that's a bonus but marriage is really all about procreation. Therefore, an unconsummated marriage is invalid and not a real marriage; it has to contain the act that creates offspring. Anything else is, well, something else. By telling Cesar their marriage had never been consummated, Panisse is giving his friend plenty of information to share with Marius to encourage him in his relationship with Fanny. Not that she and Marius would go that route but Panisse and Fanny’s ‘marriage’ could easily be annulled as it never really existed. Legally, children born to a married couple are automatically considered their children together; regardless of who actually fathered those children.

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Panisse and his family had given up on the idea of having children; their family was going to die out. Initially, he wanted to marry Fanny for lust and companionship but when she turned out to be pregnant, Panisse saw his chance to have an heir. He knew she was in love with Marius so he convinced her and Cesar it would be in the child's best interest. Naturally, he was right. The child could either be born a bastard or the welcome, pampered member of a wealthy, respected family.

Going into the marriage, Panisse made it clear to Fanny that he would not make any demands on her. What he wanted at that point was the child; someone to carry on the family name. Had the baby not been a boy, Panisse may not have been as happy but he made a promise and would have stuck with it. As it turns out, Cesario was exactly what he needed.

This is why he tells Marius he would give up Fanny but never the child. Marius thinks it's Panisse's ploy to hold on to Fanny; knowing she'd never leave him if it meant also leaving her child behind but that's not at all true. Marius' point-of-view is limited and deeply flawed. He loves Fanny but, as a man in that culture during that time, it will take some convincing for him to choose to be with her, another man’s wife. One of his hesitations might also be the issue of children. Cesario was going to carry Panisse's name so there would have to be other children to carry Marius' family's name. If he thought Fanny was unable to bear children (having not had any with Panisse) that could be a problem.

Remember, marriage is for the purpose of procreation. That's why it's deemed unacceptable for the act of procreation (sex) to take place outside of marriage. It can lead to the possibility a child will enter the world in a less than desirable situation. And, instead of it being cherished, welcomed, loved, and anticipated with joy; it is seen as a problem to be 'dealt' with, hidden; a source of shame. This is why Marius is in limbo and tortured. To claim his own child would be working against that very child. Being unable to have more children would surely destroy him.

All the information Panisse is sharing with Cesar, Fanny obviously knows as well. However, she's full of pride and is just as stubborn as her paramour, Marius. She would never tell him these things or try to convince him to be with her. She wants him to choose to be with her for love not duty or because he was convinced to do it. Panisse being a man understands this and explains it all to Cesar so the father can counsel his son accordingly. The letter Panisse dictates and signs further shows that he is in agreement and wishes for Fanny to remarry. The other private stuff, obviously, could not be put into writing lest the gossip got hold of it. Without details, the letter could shut them up.

This all may sound kind of silly to some in this day and age and in our 'anything goes' society, but highly functional cultures have written and unwritten rules of conduct that everyone follows. Sure, it can go overboard but that's as true in either direction. Anyway, the point is, the information is not only for Marius' benefit, it's also for ours, the audience. If these questions are raised in our minds and go unanswered, the movie's happy ending would not have been believed.