Merlusse

Marcel Pagnol’s bittersweet mix of drama and comedy formed the springboard for Alexander Payne’s contemporary classic The Holdovers. A detested teacher supervises boarding school pupils who can’t go home for Christmas. All is not as it seems, however. He has a glass eye, a misshapen face, is grouchy, very strict and – they say – smells of fish; boarding school teacher Blanchard, nicknamed ‘Merlusse’ (the cod), a veteran of World War I, is feared by his pupils.

The Holdovers (based on Merlusse and with a lead role for Paul Giamatti) is also screening in Eye.