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Monday, Jan 23, 1989
Jofroi
Pagnol's little known 1934 film Jofroi reached American shores in 1950, packaged with Rossellini's The Miracle and Renoir's A Day in the Country as the omnibus film Ways of Love. The most warmly comical of the three, Jofroi combines the irrationality of the one film and the earthiness of the other, its "love" being a man's consuming passion for his ancestral land. Recognition of the gnarled old farmer Jofroi's obsessiveness in no way lessens our sympathy with his determination not to let his beloved trees be destroyed, despite his having sold the land on which they stand. Based on a novel by Jean Giono, who shares Pagnol's interest in things provençal, Jofroi is enriched by the same sun-drenched mood that glows throughout the Fanny trilogy.
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