The Baker's Wife

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s r 1001 movies to see before you die. Well written, acted and directed. Really some great satirical comedy and French village culture. Raimu was excellent and I laughed out loud a few times. Really some good characters and humor. It was on Internet Archive. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Boring and stupid story Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review William L A uniquely subversive comedy of manners, The Baker's Wife took a simple, explicitly stated comparison ("our daily bread" and actual bread) and employed it as means to lampoon morality and religion in equal measure. Villagers are motivated to assist their neighbor out of mutual self-interest rather than charity, to reestablish the supply of bread to their stomachs. The actual basis of the conflict - discord between the baker and his wife that eventually leads her to run off - is humorously never even considered until the final few minutes (the wife is near mute in the film; she is an object rather than a character), the practicalities of returning the relationship to its prior, flawed condition are the focus. The role of religious authority and virtue is an interesting one, as best told by a priest obsessed with convention and mannerisms rather than actual morality. Additionally, there is the pair of quarreling neighbors who argue over the shade cast by an elm tree, that toss barbs back and forth until tossed together by the baker's loss (and the loss of their bread), and end up finding a bawdy comraderie in drunkenness. The only problem for all this interesting thematic work on convention, authority, morality, and religion is that the film is too drawn-out for its content, a neverending deluge of dialogue told through long shots and extended scenes that never really completely justify their length, though any scene featuring a distraught Raimu is done particularly well. (4.5/5) Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/21 Full Review william d There are some amusing moments in this film, mostly centered on the colorful characters who live in the small village. However, the film is too long and the dialogue long-winded. There is way too much speechifying going on here. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member My sister, Pheobe, loves this movie, she really does. She knows when a movie is lousy, and this killed her. I thought it was a decent film too. I enjoyed the music, I really did. The actors were fantastic, and they actually acted. There was not any phony acting, that makes it obvious these people are not their characters. They were all very convincing, especially Raimu. He blew me away, no kidding. I find it hard to enjoy a film, with all of the phony actors and phony audience members. They all talk about how much they enjoyed the movie, with their lousy opinions. They never seem to understand the point of the film, they really don't. Anyway, Marcel Pagnol did a great job, and the music oh boy the music. The music was fantastic, no kidding. I like music, but only good music, none of the lousy music I hear these days. The singing, the dancing, and the orchestra was really well done. I hope I see this film again sometime soon. Do yourself a favor, and go see this movie, it's fantastic, it really is! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member An overlong film which is annoying by too much dialogue. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Baker's Wife

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