Luscious Loaves + The Baker's Wife (1938)
Jagged Provençal Comedy Meets the Most Famous No-Knead Bread
La Femme du Boulanger | The Baker’s Wife (1938) Film Flavor Review
Film Review: ★★★★
Food Review: ★★★★½
Some might say film was made to capture humans dancing, but I say film was made to capture humans baking bread.
Modernity and its new-fangled accouterments have given way to some of the most sensual bread-baking shots, such as those in Cyrano, It’s Complicated, and The Great British Bake-Off (the holy trinity). Yet the humility, utility, and codependency of the bread-baker is on full display in this delectable masterstroke directed by Marcel Pagnol.
Based on the novel Blue Boy by Jean Giono, (and, later, the inspiration for an American off-broadway musical), this French drama/comedy tells the story of a Provençal village torn apart when a baker’s wife runs off with her lover. The baker, heartbroken, can no longer bring himself to bake the town’s bread. The villagers then organize to reunite the couple – all with the promise of fresh bread upon her return.1
There is something profoundly gratifying to me about watching problematic oddballs in bucolic settings solving mysteries with comedic naiveté. The wit of The Baker’s Wife sneaks up on you. I’ve written before about Hollywood’s glaring blind spot when it comes to portraying rural life in a way that feels even remotely accurate (cough, cough… Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Perhaps it’s the source material or Pagnol’s pre-war classicism, but the film’s portrayal of the proletariat is accurately unfashionable, gauche, teetering on the edge of respectful, and above all, hilarious.
As the decades-old first-wave feminism is still trickling into the French countryside, a discerning sensibility begins to emerge in La Femme du Boulanger. The coke-mento mixture of bad decisions, self-serving scandal, and precarious bakery business models explodes, setting the stage for slapstick chases and punchy one-liners that feel equal parts late-Depression-era novel and mirthfully, timelessly human.
In 2020, my initial reactions to the film concluded, “Everyone has an idea of what their life and the lives of others should look like. More often than not, these notions are entirely opposing with the person next to you. To get along, to live in a life you think you don’t want — how does one survive Personally? I’m not sure, but in ‘The Baker’s Wife’ the answer seems to be bread, and I’m inclined to agree.”
The townsfolk’s selfish, loaf-fiending motivations for helping the baker, played earnestly by the mononymous actor Raimu, are all too relatable. At least, they’re relatable to me — someone who can’t watch a single piece of mouth-watering media without having a snack — and likely you, too, dear reader.
It is at this junction that I would like to humbly recommend you begin to plan your screening twenty-four hours in advance, allowing just enough time to prepare and bake the timeless classic New York Times No-Knead Bread, or one of its paywall-free alternatives. Tried and true, no-knead bread recipes are simple, easy (if you think of it ahead of time!) and should be pulled out of the oven about twenty minutes before any home screening.
A deliciously messy no-knead loaf I made many moons ago, when I first posted about this film on Instagram. She may have some blemishes but I dare you to find a better crumb.
I should note I was fortunate enough to first view this film in 35mm at Film Forum in NYC a few years ago, and it was nothing short of a silver screen delight. (If you ever get the chance to see a film print, the black and white cinematography dances like magic sparkling off the celluloid.) Currently, you can actually stream The Baker’s Wife via The Criterion Channel, and I would highly recommend elevating your home-viewing experience with the aforementioned refreshments.
Bravo, Marcel! My compliments to the boulanger!
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Footnote: It should go without saying, but let me be clear: The wife has good reason to run away. We support women in this house.