`MY MOTHER'S CASTLE' IS A SEQUEL WORTH SEEING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 11, 1992                   TAG: 9201110119
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
`MY MOTHER'S CASTLE' IS A SEQUEL WORTH SEEING
"My Mother's Castle," the sequel to "My Father's Glory," generally retains the sunny, nostalgic tone of the first installment. But it turns out to be more substantial, a funnier and more eventful work with a bittersweet finish.
For those who enjoyed the first, this marks a mandatory trip to the movies. Directed by Yves Robert, the two pictures are based on Marcel Pagnol's memoirs of his childhood.
In "My Father's Glory," the young Marcel falls in love with the starkly beautiful, arid hills of Provence and discovers that his schoolteacher father is not immune to the same foolish vanities that afflict other men.
As "My Mother's Castle" opens, Marcel (Julien Ciamaca) is back in Marseilles, pining for his beloved hills and and preparing to represent his school in an important exam.
To Marcel's joy, his mother, Augustine, also yearns for the healthier climate of the country and contrives to have the family spend more time there. The role of Augustine is that of a quiet, simple but effective woman, and Nathalie Roussel gives her warmth and charm.
Her husband, Joseph, is a free-thinking schoolteacher who, despite his radical philosophies, is conventional and conservative in his actions. Augustine, he finds, has a "talent for intrigue." But it's only to slightly manipulate her husband into mildly adventurous divergences from his world view.
Played by Philippe Caubere, Joseph is a good husband and father who sets high standards for himself and his family. Caubere finds humor in the character without making fun of him.
Much of this movie, like the first, focuses on the family's holidays in Provence.
Marcel renews his friendship with Lili, the local boy. But a new presence on the scene diverts Marcel both from his friend and the wilderness. In the movie's sprightliest segment, Marcel becomes infatuated with another vacationer. Isabelle (Julie Timmerman) is the haughty, pretentious daughter of a flamboyant, alcoholic proofreader who writes bad poetry and sets the standards for artistic pretentiousness in his family.
Marcel is so smitten that he eats grasshoppers and barks like a dog at Isabelle's whims. It's the first time in his life that he is made a fool of by a female. Ciamaca loosens up and sheds some of his seriousness in this episode, and the movie benefits.
Robert's direction also becomes more playful, and he picks up the pace while retaining the beauty of the countryside.
More than just a hymn to the desert country that enchanted him, Pagnol's memoirs are loving tributes to his parents and a time that can't be recaptured.
"My Mother's Castle," is funny, lyrical and ultimately touching.
`My Mother's Castle': *** An Orion classic at the Grandin Theatre (345-6377). Rated PG for language; 98 minutes.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB