My Afternoons with Margueritte

Plot

Germain is a 45-year-old illiterate handyman who has not had much luck in his life so far. He was bullied at school, both by the teacher and the other pupils because he was a slow reader. His mother never gave him love and affection, and kept reminding him that he was clumsy and an unwanted child, the result of a fling at the French national holiday. But he is loyal, with a good heart, and still parks his trailer close to her house where he maintains his lovely vegetable garden. He earns some extra money by taking his vegetables to the weekly farmers' market in the truck borrowed from the bar where he relaxes every day with his friends, joking and chatting. His girl friend Annette is a younger woman who drives the local bus, and is very much in love with this sweet, simple and loving man.

One afternoon Germain meets Margueritte, a delicate 95-year-old lady who sits on the same bench to feed the 19 pigeons that he has observed so often that he knows them by sight and has given them names. She is highly educated, a scientist who has traveled the world with the World Health Organization and now spends her life reading in the genteel retirement home in this small town. They connect over a text from The Plague by Albert Camus, but because Germain is barely literate Margueritte starts to read the book aloud to him. Slowly he starts to appreciate the beauty of words and sentences and books because he is a good listener and he has a vivid imagination. The symbolism Camus uses in this philosophical novel leads Germain to expand his horizon, making him think as never before. The pair meet every day to continue their reading sessions. A friendship develops that is healing for both, enabling Germain to face the frustrations he silently carries with him. She continues to read to him, and eventually Margueritte gives him her old dictionary. In it he tries to find words that he's interested in, but because he can't spell he find the dictionary too frustrating and decides to return it when he has agreed to come over to Margueritte's retirement home for tea. She tells him that her eyesight is gradually fading due to macular degeneration, and that she will soon no longer be able to walk unassisted. Germain decides to reverse roles and try to read to her, but first he must improve his reading skills. With Annette's support he learns to read a story aloud to Margueritte. Shortly thereafter, Germain’s mother dies. Despite his mother's bad attitude toward him all his life, he is still distraught when he finds her dead. At the notary's he discovers that his mother owned the house he had always thought she was renting, and a sizeable fortune she had worked hard to earn, intending to bequeath that to him but never telling him about that. Meanwhile, Annette announces her pregnancy to Germain, who has wondered about the wisdom of having children because he does not want them to grow up with a good-for-nothing father, but Annette tells him not to worry: he can give love. When Margueritte suddenly leaves her retirement home because her nephew and niece can no longer supplement the costs and is put into a downscale retirement home in Flanders, Belgium, she has left only her dictionary for Germain. Germain traces her down and brings her with him to his house. On the way home, Germain reads a poem he has written about what Margueritte has done for him:

It's not a typical love affair But "love" and "tenderness" Both are there Named after a daisy She lived amidst words Surrounded by adjectives In green fields of verbs Some force you to yield But she with soft art Passed through my hard shield And into my heart Not always are love stories Just made of love Sometimes Love is not named But it's love just the same... This is no typical love affair I met her on a bench in my local square She made a little stir, tiny like a bird With her gentle feathers She was surrounded by words Some as common as myself She gave me books, two or three Their pages have come alive for me Don't die now, You've still time, just wait It's not the hour, my little flower Give me some more of you More of the life in you Wait... Not always are love stories Just made of love Sometimes love is not named But it's love just the same.

Cast

Gérard Depardieu as Germain Chazes

Gisèle Casadesus as Margueritte

Claire Maurier as Jacqueline

Maurane as Francine

François-Xavier Demaison as Gardini

Anne Le Guernec as Jacqueline

Amandine Chauveau as Jacqueline

Sophie Guillemin as Annette

Florian Yven as Germain

Patrick Bouchitey as Landremont

Régis Laspalès as M. Bayle

Jean-François Stévenin as Joseph

Lyes Salem as Youssef

Matthieu Dahan as Julien

Bruno Ricci as Marco

Mélanie Bernier as Stéphanie