Jericho (Michel Simon) is quite excited to be receiving visitors. A retired veterinarian and widower, he lives alone in his beautiful countryside mansion, in which he has every luxury (as well as enough of a reputation to be part of the high-society, cavorting with politicians and nobility in the same way ordinary people would with their most casual fans). However, these visitors in particular are quite special, since they’re his grandson Jacques (Yves Lefebvre) and his wife, Marie (Marie Dubois), who are coming to spend a few weeks with Jericho. What the old man doesn’t realize is that this seemingly happy couple could not be more miserable. They no longer feel the spark of romance they did years before, and are on the verge of divorce. There is very little passion left there, and they have essentially resigned to the fact that their marriage is over. However, they decide it’s better to let the old man have his peace, rather than revealing the shocking state of their relationship, since he has always been very supportive of them both. The next few weeks are going to be tough for the couple, as they not only need to masquerade as a content husband and wife duo, but also deal with their own inner problems, including the yearning for a different life. Jericho is a lot smarter than they give him credit for, and it isn’t long before he suspects that their relationship is in trouble – so with the help of his friend and protege, Rémy (Serge Gainsbourg), he sets out to do what he can to save the marriage, even if it means forcing these two young people to fall in love all over again, whatever the cost.

Marriage is hard work – not that I’m speaking from experience, but like any diligent fan of literature, I’ve had my fair share of exposure to an array of works that show the challenges that come with being in a long-term relationship. Jacques Poitrenaud seemed to be inherently interested in this, as he put together one of the most compelling demonstrations of a declining relationship between a husband and wife in the delightful The Marriage Came Tumbling Down (French: Ce sacré grand-père), a film that takes on a wealth of meaning through its peculiar and funny look into marriage. Far from the kind of harrowing, emotionally-complex portrayal of the loss of romance made by the likes of Ingmar Bergman, and more akin to the eccentricities of something along the lines of Divorce, Italian Style (although with a more gentle sense of humour, rather than the pitch-black comedy of Pietro Germi’s film), this film is a fascinating portrait of two individuals who find themselves quite simply falling out of love – there aren’t any ulterior motives (there is an element of infidelity, but this is more a result of the disintegration of the marriage than it is a cause of it), and it seems to be a case of realizing that not all relationships are destined to last forever. A small, intimate film that draws on an equal balance of soft-hearted comedy and emotionally-charged drama, The Marriage Came Tumbling Down is a wonderfully compelling film, a humorous exploration of a marriage, both from the perspective of the couple at the centre, and an array of other characters that are observers to what very clearly is a marriage that is steadily venturing towards failure – and their responsibility is to do what they can to salvage it, or else face the consequences of witnessing what they believe to be a very strong pairing falling victim to the difficulties of long-term romance, which isn’t always all that pleasant.

The French title of The Marriage Came Tumbling Down is roughly translated as “this sacred grandfather”, which is a truly bewildering label for this film, but one that makes perfect sense when we realize both what the perspective the story is told from, as well as the person that would be playing the role. Despite being more of a major supporting character, French cinema icon Michel Simon was given top-billing, and promoted as the star of the film – and when you have been beguiled by Simon in the past, it’s difficult to not be interested in any of the work he did, especially later on in life, where he finally was given free-reign to surrender to his eccentricities, which served him exceptionally well and set him apart from all of his contemporaries. Playing the part of Jericho, the titular grandfather whose home serves as the intended final resting-place for his grandson and his wife (who also happens to be his grand-niece, but the film skirts around this part of the story with great rapidity), Simon is wonderful – he’s not as outrageous as he could be, but he’s very funny and brings a distinct warmth to the film that simply would not exist had Poitrenaud not made a concerted effort to emphasize the role this character played. More of an observer at first, the character begins to shape the narrative through small choices, which ultimate alter the course of the story and challenges the intentions we initially thought this film had at the outset. Not necessarily a character-driven piece outside of Simon, The Marriage Came Tumbling Down very cleverly uses the actor’s gifts to elevate the material and single-handedly turn even the dourest material, into a heartfelt, hilarious excursion into the intimate moments of a marriage that is gradually falling apart. It’s a masterpiece of character comedy, where the smallest intricacies of a role contribute to some significant narrative choices beyond what we’d expect to be the central focus.

Simon’s presence is very important to the existence of this film, since without it, The Marriage Came Tumbling Down would be a very dour drama – part of this comes from the fact that Dubois and Lefebvre are playing it completely straight, perhaps even veering towards the realm of melodrama. This isn’t as negative as it would appear, since it works in the context of the film. Poitrenaud crafts a multilayered film that successfully manages to operate on many different levels, being funny when it needs to be, but not to the point where the more serious subject matter is invalidated. This is a masterful control of tone and intention, and the director sees the potential lurking beneath a very simple story, taking advantage of a relatable series of concepts, and weaving them together into an unforgettably complex human comedy that isn’t afraid of taking a few risks, especially when its comes to handling difficult issues such as the difficult period in most relationships, where one (or both) parties starts to question their happiness, as well as whether they actually want to be with this particular person, or it cutting your relationship short is maybe better for the soul, since it allows us to pursue other avenues that may bring us more happiness and satisfaction. The film doesn’t provide easy answers to these questions, and ends on an incredibly polarizing note – but its heartfulness is more notable than anything of the murky sentiments that exist around it, and makes for a very compelling film that knows what it wants to say, perhaps even fatally so, since it can come across as slightly too sentimental at times.

Telling this story through the perspective of an eccentric old man may have been a bewildering choice, but it makes sense when we realize that this is a film built on familial values, and the purpose of our relatives in not only celebrating our joys along with us, but also salvaging our souls when we’re at our lowest point. It’s an ambigious message that may have questionable morals, since it is essentially the story of an old, lonely man meddling in the affairs of his young relatives, both for the sake of saving what he perceives to be a beautiful relationship, and also because he yearns for his days of being in love, his loneliness encapsulating his everyday life and impelling him to try and show the young couple the value of working through your personal quandaries and not giving up just because of a small rough patch. The film definitely refuses to state that one needs to work through all instances that lead to a divorce – it makes a case that sometimes just not being in love anymore is perfectly adequate grounds to end a marriage. However, it also shows the value of realizing what one has, and not to make hasty decisions based on impulse. The true beliefs of the director aren’t ever really made clear, but they don’t matter all that much, since the film that surrounds it is so enthralling and hilariously irreverent, we don’t need to know exactly what it was trying to convey, instead knowing that we’re in good hands, and that we’re going to see something that has some meaning – whatever it is seems to be entirely up to individual interpretation.

Part of what makes The Marriage Came Tumbling Down so captivating is how it never reveals its intentions fully, constantly keeping us guessing through an elegant comedy of manners. It has a lot of soul, but just as much intelligence, and Poitrenaud keeps everything on the fundamentally human level, perfecting each individual component before moving onto the next, which creates a sensationally well-formed comedy that takes some bold leaps into the unknown, all for the sake of giving the audience something we haven’t seen before. It’s elegant and insightful, and uses its characters as both representations of different kinds of people, and as plot devices, existing almost entirely on the strengths of a fascinating story about the other side of romance, the kind that can often be mistaken for boredom and despair. It doesn’t claim to be the definitive word on any of its issues, and it often can seem quite superficial, especially when we consider how it is going for a very whimsical style, which is contrasted with a bare-boned, socially charged approach to melodrama, which could have so easily been seen as just unconvincing, excessive meanderings. However, the genuine fondness the director has for these characters, and the wonderful work being done by the actors, all speak to the brilliance of this film, and prove the value of a strong premise and the brilliance that can come from a story well told.