Humanist Explorations - "Fanny"

Human beings are often guided and informed by their emotions. They may be simple, or deep and complex. Hate, joy, narcissism, and self‑centeredness—the list is virtually endless. Arguably, the emotion of love is the most varied and misunderstood of all.

Our presentation this month is about the complexity and evanescence of love in its many involved and contradictory forms. Brilliantly set in Marseille, France, in the 1920s by the writer and auteur Marcel Pagnol, this is the story of Marius, Fanny, and César in The Marseille Trilogy. Adapted in 1961 for the screen and directed by Joshua Logan, with a stellar cast including Leslie Caron, Horst Buchholz, Charles Boyer, and Maurice Chevalier, love is portrayed in its many interrelated incarnations of joy and sorrow.