Marius et Jeannette

Shown: 11 October 1999
In association with Les Amitiés Franco-Britanniques & L' Alliance Française de Jersey

France 1997 (subtitles)
Directed by Robert Guédiguian
Leading players - Ariane Ascaride, Gérard Meylen and Pacale Roberts

Synopsis

Jeanette (Ariane Ascaride) and her two children live in an impoverished quarter of Marseilles. Marius (Gerard Meylen) is a security guard at an abandoned cement factory, which is being demolished. They meet when Jeanette attempts to steal some old tins of paint from the site and Marius sends her away empty-handed. 'My house will collapse without a paint job,' she shouts and the next day we find Marius at her door offering to redecorate for free. A love story slowly develops, but their romance is not without its troubles.

Jeanette is a feisty woman - proud, cheerful and positive - but with a shocking temper which gets her the sack from her job as a supermarket check-out operator. Marius, on the other hand, is the strong but extremely reserved type. Both find it difficult to articulate their feelings. Jeanette and her neighbours reside in the backstreets of Estaque in a courtyard with windows that open out on a cramped communal area. Marius is soon integrated into the close knit community where everyone's most personal and private concerns are openly discussed. However, one day he disappears and starts drinking heavily so it becomes evident that something is troubling him. Two of the other neighbours Justin (Jacques Boudet) and Dédé (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) join him in a drinking session and when drunk he confesses that Jeanette's children remind him of his own who were killed in a drink-driving accident.

Marius and Jeanette's journey towards happiness is a difficult one but it is also filled with optimism, warmth and a great sense of hope.