Jofroi (1934)
Directed by Marcel Pagnol

Film Review

It is perhaps a little surprising that Marcel Pagnol made his directorial debut by adapting not one of his own plays but instead the work of two other authors, Emile Augier and Jean Giono.  Immediately after his screen version of Augier's stage play Le Gendre de Monsieur Poirier, Pagnol adapted a short story by Jean Giono, entitled Jofroi de la Maussan.  Before he became a director, Pagnol had assisted on the screen version of two of his most successful plays, Marius (1931) and Fanny (1932), in the capacity of a screenwriter, and on both occasions he was dissatisfied with the result.  Pagnol quickly realised that he was the best person to adapt his stage plays for the cinema and the popularity of Jofroi gave him the confidence to do just that.  He also had an affinity with Giono's work and would adapt several of his novels, including Angèle (1934) and La Femme du boulanger (1938).

Jofroi is the first of Pagnol's films to have the contemporary Provençal setting that is such an essential part of the director's oeuvre.  It is also one of Pagnol's most humorous films, confidently directed and featuring a star turn from Vincent Scotto, a popular musician in his first film appearance.  In the course of a long and prolific career Scotto composed around four thousand songs and more than fifty operettas.  He also found time to score over a hundred films, including several by Marcel Pagnol, who became a close friend.  Although he was only 56 when he took on the role of Jofroi, Scotto is totally convincing as the septuagenarian peasant farmer and is poignant and hilarious in equal measure.  The cast includes several actors who would become part of the director's regular troupe - Henri Poupon, Charles Blavette and Édouard Delmont - all perfectly at home in Pagnol country.  Short and snappy yet mercilessly true to life, Jofroi is probably the best introduction to the work of this remarkable filmmaker.

Film Synopsis

Jofroi, an ageing peasant, sells his orchard to one of his neighbours, Fonse. When the trees fail to produce any fruit, Fonse decides he will cut them down.  Jofroi is incensed when he hears about this: how can a man even think of murdering trees!  First Jofroi threatens Fonse, then he makes up his mind to kill himself, much to the distress of his wife.  Several suicide attempts later, the mayor and a priest manage to persuade Fonse not to rip up the offending trees.  Even when Jofroi dies, of natural causes, Fonse decides to keep some of the trees, in memory of the man for whom they meant so much.