Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Poignant French memoir has innocent nudity, kids smoking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
My Father's Glory
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
Based on 12 kid reviews
Kids say this movie beautifully explores a young boy's journey as he learns that his parents, whom he idealizes, are not perfect and often lie to him. The film conveys important life lessons about accepting imperfections and the realities of life while emphasizing the value of keeping the original French dialogue with subtitles for an authentic experience.
- life lessons
- parental imperfections
- childhood struggles
- original language
- authenticity
- humor
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
Acclaimed French novelist Marcel Pagnol remembers snippets of his childhood as a school teacher's oldest and most precocious son. He can read before kindergarten and his mother (Nathalie Roussel) forbids it -- his brain could explode. When he finally enters school he's told to keep quiet while the other kids catch up, so he daydreams. He witnesses the courtship of his Aunt Rose (Therese Liotard) and comes to admire his Uncle Jules (Didier Pain), who takes Marcel's family with them to a summer holiday in the French countryside when Marcel is 11 (Julien Ciamaca). Marcel declares that summer the best of his life as he befriends a local boy who shows him everything about living in the country and watches with some trepidation his bookworm father (Philippe Caubere) try his hand at hunting.
Is It Any Good?
Anyone with nostalgia for their favorite lazy get-away-from-it-all vacation will enjoy this memoir. Kids who can't look back on enough summers to have nostalgia may get a little bored, except when Marcel meets his country friend and they get into some serious exploring.
The acting seems a little clunky -- maybe it's the dubbing getting in the way -- but the remembrances of childhood Pagnol selects to piece together still hold a poignancy, and sometimes real humor. His father's hunting exploits are both funny and an important moment in Marcel's understanding of who is father is. It's enough to make the viewer wish, along with Marcel, that his summer would never end.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the process of creating a memoir. How are they constructed differently? Why do you think the author included snippets from different parts of his childhood? Does it feel like a complete story?
What did you learn about life in the year 1900? Why didn't Marcel's father want a telephone in the house? Why do you think Marcel's mother thought it was dangerous for him to read so young?
How are French movies different from American ones? How would this movie be different if it was produced in Hollywood?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : November 5, 2002
- Cast : Julien Ciamaca , Nathalie Roussel , Philippe Caubere
- Director : Yves Robert
- Studio : MGM/UA
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship
- Run time : 110 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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