After Fanny's loverMarius succumbs to the call of the sea, it is none other than the middle-agedPanisse who is maneuvered into making an honest woman out of her and give herunborn child a name. Orson Welles once hailed Raimu as the greatest actor of thecinema; his presence as César, bar owner and philosopher-at-large,dominates this second part of the trilogy.