Poil de carotte

"Poil de carotte" had already been transferred to the screen ,but,once again,it was Julien Duvivier's version which did Jules Renard's book justice.Actually Duvivier filmed two versions:a silent one (recently released on DVD) and the second one (1932) which are highly praised on the IMDb-see notably "writer's reign"'s excellent comments- Henri Graziani is no match for Duvivier.Philippe Noiret is ideally cast as M.Lepic ,but his wife (who is the actor's wife in real life )gives an uneven performance,not the character most of French children have known at school.

Transferring "Poil de Carotte" to the screen was no easy task.The very structure of the book makes it very hard.This is not really a continuous story but rather little stories.And I'm not sure that the script writers chose the best :where are for instance "the new year" or "the hens"?And the most beautiful chapter "the leaves storm" finds no equivalent in what is finally a too sunny landscape.

"Poil de Carotte" ,the red-haired boy her mother did not like is a very endearing character.But take Duvivier's films.