Cocagne (1961)
Directed by Maurice Cloche

Film Review

Cocagne may have been one of Fernandel's later films, but it has strong echoes of his earlier work, most visibly his collaborations with director Marcel Pagnol in the 1930s and '40s - films like Regain (1937) and Le Schpountz (1938).  The setting is the town of Arles and region of Camargue - not too far from Pagnol's own Provence near Marseille - and the characters have a distinctly Pagnol-like meridional ring to them (the casting of Andrex and Rellys in supporting roles can only add to this impression).  With so much of the film shot on location (the exterior scenes in historic Arles are especially striking), Cocagne has a raw realist feel to it, and this sets it apart from most other films that Fernandel put his name to around this time.

The film was directed (competently, but with no real flair) by Maurice Cloche, who had tended to rest on his laurels after his 1947 box office hit Monsieur Vincent, which received an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.  Cloche's output was as diverse as it was prolific, including period melodramas such as Le Petit chose (1938), the sci-fi oddity L'Invité de la onzième heure (1945) and formulaic spy thriller Coplan, agent secret FX 18 (1964).  Apart from Monsieur Vincent, which owed most of its success to a remarkable central performance from Pierre Fresnay, Cloche left us very little to remember him by.  Cocagne is one of his more engaging films, but it struggles to be much more than a belated homage to Pagnol's earlier offerings. 

A few moments of genuine poignancy are somewhat impaired by a heavy-handed script, which is content merely to turn the handle on a fairly glib fable rather than offer something more profound and original.  A credible performance from Fernandel (one of his best - it almost rates alongside his work on La Vache et le prisonnier) makes up for the tired narrative, helped by equally strong contributions from Dora Doll and Rellys, two formidable acting talents that have sadly slipped from our collective consciousness.  Even at this late stage in his career, Fernandel was still a massive box office draw - implausibly, the film managed to attract an audience of 1.8 million in France.  Cocagne is not a great film, but its romantic portrayal of Provence - a picturesque haven of tranquillity - lends it an irresistible charm.

Film Synopsis

A refuse truck driver, Marc-Antoine is content with his modest life in Arles with his wife Mélanie and their two teenage children.  When a valuable painting is stolen from his friend Amédée, the owner of a café, Marc-Antoine suddenly finds he has an unexpected talent for painting.  He becomes a local celebrity and, encouraged by Hélène, a café waitress, he is soon convinced that he is a great artist.  On the spur of the moment, he turns his back on his job and his family and moves to Camargue, to live with his friend Septime, who gives him the money to buy painting materials.  Marc-Antoine soon becomes disillusioned with his new life and realises that he would rather be back in Arles, surrounded by the people who are dear to him...