''The Grocer's Son'' (French : ''Le Fils de l'épicier'') is a 2007 French
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
about a family that runs a grocery business in
Provence, France
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
; the business includes a single truck that travels the countryside making deliveries to customers. The director,
Éric Guirado, had previously made television documentaries about traveling grocers in rural France. The film, released in France as ''Le Fils de l'épicier'', was first presented as part of the 2007
Namur Francophone Film Festival. It was sufficiently successful that in 2008 subtitled versions were released internationally.
Synopsis
It concerns Antoine (played by
Nicolas Cazalé
Nicolas Cazalé (born 24 April 1977 in Pau, Gascony, France) is a French model and actor who is most noted for his role in the 2004 French film, ''Le Grand Voyage'' for which he won a Jury Award for Best Actor at the 2005 Newport International F ...
), who must leave
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
to help his mother (Jeanne Goupil) who runs the family grocery store in a village in
Southern France
Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...
. His father (Daniel Duval), stricken with a heart attack, can no longer drive the grocery truck that supplies the isolated hamlets around the village. Antoine discovers the charm of these people, "bons vivants" (good living) ways and gradually comes to love his eccentric customers and finds the country of his childhood. He also discovers the joy of living and perhaps the joy of love with Claire (played by
Clotilde Hesme
Clotilde Hesme (born 30 July 1979) is a French actress best known for playing Lilie in Philippe Garrel's ''Regular Lovers'' and Alice in Christophe Honoré's ''Love Songs''. She is also known for the role of Adèle from the TV series '' Les Rev ...
).
The film uses the beautiful landscape of
Mont Sainte-Victoire
Montagne Sainte-Victoire ( Provençal oc, Venturi / Santa Venturi according to classical orthography and oc, Ventùri / Santo Ventùri, label=none according to Mistralian orthography) is a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France whi ...
as a regular backdrop.
Cast
*
Nicolas Cazalé
Nicolas Cazalé (born 24 April 1977 in Pau, Gascony, France) is a French model and actor who is most noted for his role in the 2004 French film, ''Le Grand Voyage'' for which he won a Jury Award for Best Actor at the 2005 Newport International F ...
as Antoine Sforza (the Grocer's son).
*
Clotilde Hesme
Clotilde Hesme (born 30 July 1979) is a French actress best known for playing Lilie in Philippe Garrel's ''Regular Lovers'' and Alice in Christophe Honoré's ''Love Songs''. She is also known for the role of Adèle from the TV series '' Les Rev ...
as Claire.
*
Daniel Duval
Daniel Duval (28 November 1944 – 10 October 2013) was a French film actor, director and writer.
Best known as an actor, Duval has credits in over 70 television and film productions. As a filmmaker, Duval was awarded the Silver Prize at the 1 ...
as Antoine's father, the proprietor of ''Alimentation Générale'' (lit. Grocery).
*
Jeanne Goupil
Jeanne Goupil (born April 4, 1950) is a French television and film actress from Soisy-sous-Montmorency who known for the ''Don't Deliver Us from Evil'' (1971), ''Cookies'' (1975) and ''The Grocer's Son'' (2007).
Filmography
*''Don't Deliver Us fr ...
as Antoine's mother and the proprietress.
*
Stéphan Guérin-Tillié as François Sforza (Antoine's brother).
*
Liliane Rovère
Liliane Rovère (born 30 January 1933) is a French actress.
Personal life
In 1955, she went to the United States where she met Chet Baker. They lived together for two years.
She was married to ''Bibi Rovère''. In 1971, they adopted a girl tha ...
as Lucienne (a customer).
* as Le Père Clèment.
* as Hassan.
*
Benoit Giros as Fernand.
*
Ludmila Ruoso as Sophie.
Other credits
*Producers -
Miléna Poyle and
Gilles Sacuto
*Music -
Christophe Boutin
*Production record—TS Production, Rhône-Alpes Cinéma,
StudioCanal
StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...
*Location -
Rosans, commune in Provence
Reception
The film received good reviews from several noted critics writing in English.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
wrote, "The summer unfolds slowly. Claire goes back to Paris. The father arrives from Paris. The countryside is calm and seductive. The mother soldiers on, keeping the store open late "to help people." And Antoine comes of age. That's all the film is, apart from having humor, warmth, kindness, insight and scenery. That's enough."
[ Ebert's statement that the city of the film is Paris is likely incorrect; the city where Antoine and Claire are living at the film's start is Lyon.]
Nicolas Cazale was nominated for the
César Award for Most Promising Actor
The César Award for Most Promising Actor (french: César du meilleur espoir masculin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a y ...
(the French Academy Award) for his performance as the Grocer's son.
Home media
''The Grocer's Son'' was released as a region 1 DVD in 2009 with English subtitles. A region 2 DVD was also released in 2009.
References
External links
*
*
The Grocer's Son' at
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grocer's Son, The
French drama films
2007 films
2000s French films